TI  E>  RAR.Y 

OF  THE. 

UNIVERSITY 
OF    ILLINOIS 

1977.3 


?78 


s. 


**v     I 


Of' 

1 

SEP  Ofc  199! 

^  2  6  iSSj 
DEC  ib  1934 

NOV  2  7  1994 

m  2  ? 1996 

JULIV997 
MAR  1  7 1998 

FEB  2  7  ffl98 
JAN  2  3  2003 

T.161  — O- 


1096 


THE  SETTLEMENT  OF  ILLINOIS  FROM  1830  TO  1850 


BY 

WILLIAM  VIPOND  POOLEY 


A  THESIS  SUBMITTED  FOR  THE  DEGREE  OP  DOCTOR  OF  PHILOSOPHY 
UNIVERSITY  OF  WISCONSIN 

1905 


(REPRINTED  FROM  THE  BULLETIN  OF/THE  UNIVERSITY  or  WISCONSIN 

HISTORY   SERIES,  VOLV   I,   PP.   287-595.) 


MADISON.  WISCONSIN 
1908 'C 


77/3 


CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  I— INTRODUCTION  PAGE 

Illinois  offers  good  example  of  westward  movement 307 

Periods  of  settlement 307 

The  third  period 307 

Class  of  pioneers „ C30iP 

The  forces  operating  to  change  the  characteristics  of  the  pioneer 

class  in  northern  Illinois 309 

Influence  of  the  prairies 310 

Comparison  of  northern  and  southern  parts  of  the  state  with  re- 
gard to  class  of  settlers (3H 

Effect  of  physical  characteristics  on  settlement 311 

*"  Internal  improvements  due  to  lack  of  markets 311 

Prairies  not  conquered  by  1850 312 

Object  of  this  investigation 312 

CHAPTER  II— ILLINOIS  BEFORE  1830 

*-  1.  Early  days  in  Illinois 313 

Early  organization  of  Illinois 313 

Pew  settlers  in  Illinois  before  1800 313 

Soldiers  of  George  Rogers  Clark 315 

French  settlements 315 

2 .  The  American  settlements  before  1809 316 

Illinois  in  1800 316 

Illinois  from  1800  to  1809 316 

3.  Illinois  territory  from  1809  to  1818 317 

Slow  settlement  before  1815 317 

Unfavorable  reports  concerning  the  new  country 317 

The  Ohio  river  the  great  highway  of  travel 318 

Settlers  from  the  South 318 

Settlements  in  eastern  Illinois 318 

Settlements  in  southern  Illinois 319 

Settlements  in  western  Illinois 319 

Kaskaskia  district  the  most  populous 319 

Edwardsville 319 

Kickapoos  held  central  Illinois 320 

Isolated  settlements 320 

[3] 


-    - 


290  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  II— ILLINOIS  BEFORE  1830— continued.  PAGB 

4.  Illinois  from  1818  to  1830 

Population  in  1818 -. . . 

Nativities  of  the  early  settlers 

The  frontier  line  in  1818 

Location  of  the  settlements 

A  turning  point  in  development  of  state  (1824) 32 

Settlements  before  1830 322 

Albion 322 

Shawneetown. 322 

Towns  were  frontier  villages 323 

Expansion 323 

5.  Sangarnon  Country 323 

Pioneers  use  the  small  prairies, 324 

Still  remain  close  to  timber 324 

Development  after  1824  is  rapid 325 

Towns  in  the  Sangamon  country 325 

6.  The  Military  Tract 326 

Earliest  settlements 326 

Settlements  along  the  Illinois  river 326 

Settlements  along  the  Mississippi 327 

Character  of  the  population 327 

7.  The  Lead  Region 327 

8.  Chicago (^) 

9.  General  statement 328 

Location  of  settlements 323 

The  prairies 329 

CHAPTER  III — THE  CAUSES  FOR  THE  SETTLEMENT  OF  ILLINOIS 

^i.  Tendency  of  Americans  to  migrate 

General  movement  by  classes , 

*  2 .  General  causes  for  migration 

a.  The  restless  spirit 

People  dissatisfied  for  various  reasons 

Land  values 

Effect  of  public  lands  on  people  in  East 

Clay's  report  of  1834 

Reports  from  the  West 

b .  The  internal  improvements 

Traffic  by  steam 

c .  Financial  depression ..  „ 

Speculation 

Federation  of  labor 

Strikes 

Most  notable  consequence  was  emigration  to  West.. 

M 


CONTENTS  291 

CHAPTER  III — CAUSES  FOR  THE  SETTLEMENT  OF  ILLINOIS— con.     PAGE 

3.  Local  causes 385 

-  a.  New  England 835 

New  Englander's  desire  to  roam 335 

Not  a  good  agricultural  region 335 

Small  farms 336 

Sheep  industry  proves  profitable  336 

Value  of  industry  increased  by  demand 336 

Effect  upon  the  supply  of  land 337 

Decline  in  this  industry  after  1837 337 

Dairying  industry 337 

Decrease  in  agricultural  products 338 

Farmers  move  to  Maine  and  New  Hampshire 338 

Manufactures 

Foreign  laborers  in  the  factories 

<-  b.  Middle  states 339 

Complaints  of  hard  times 339 

Wages  did  not  increase  with  cost  of  living. .. 340 

Conditions  equally  unfavorable  for  farmers 340 

Decrease  in  agricultural  population 341 

Reason  assigned  for  decrease 341 

Effect  of  Erie  canal  on  competition 341 

Decreased  cost  of  transportation 342 

Canal    operated   against  welfare  of  a    portion  of 

farming  class  of  New  York 342 

Concentration  of  property 342 

Anti-Rent  riots 342 

"Genesee  Tariff" 343 

Colony  fever 343 

Conditions  in  Pennsylvania  similar  to  those  in  New 

York , 343 

Land  not  fertile 344 

Circulars  from  the  West 344 

c.  Southern  states 344, 

Migration  into  Gulf  states 344 

Difficult  to  determine  amount  to  the  North .• .  '  345- 

General  depression  prevalent  in  old  states  of  &6uth  345 

Production  of  staples  not  always  advantageous. . .  345 

Effect  of  the  tariff 346 

Conditions  in  Southwest  very  bad 346 

Influence  of  slavery ; 347 


[5] 


292  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  III — CAUSES  FOB  THE  SETTLEMENT  OF  ILLINOIS — con. 

3.  Local  causes — continued  PAGE 

"~d.  Northwest  Territory 347 

Monetary  affairs  in  Ohio 347 

Internal  improvements  in  Indiana 348 

Varied  fertility  of  soils 348 

Comparative  values  in  Ohio 349 

Like  conditions  in  Indiana 350 

Effect  upon  the  farmers 350 

Circulars  and  their  effect . . . .' 350 

"Generation"  law 350 

4.  Causes  for  settlement  of  Illinois  primarily  economic 351 

CHAPTER  IV-^THE  WAY  TO  THE  WEST 

1.  General  routes  to  the  West 352 

Great  Lakes  and  the  Ohio  river 352 

Southern  road 353 

Lines  converging  from  New  England 353 

New  York  lines 353 

Buffalo  the  great  port  of  the  lower  lakes 354 

The  lines  leading  from  the  Middle  Atlantic  states 354 

Prom  the  neighborhood  of  Baltimore .' .  355 

The  Old  National  Road 355 

From  the  southern  states 356 

From  Kentucky  and  Tennessee 356 

The  line  of  the  Mississippi 356 

From  the  older  states  of  the  Northwest  Territory 357 

Objective  points 357 

St.  Louis 357 

— Galena 358 

• —  Galena  as  a  supply  point 


I 

Chicago 


Illinois  roads  centering  at  Chicago .\35J 

2.  Travel  on  the  Great  Lakes 359 

Cost  of  transportation 

Freight  rates 

Amount  of  goods  shipped 351 

Speed  of  travel 361 

Boats  used 361 

3.  Travel  on  the  rivers 362 

Early  river  traffic 362 

Keel-boats 363 

Rafts • 36 

[6] 


CONTENTS  293 

CHAPTER  CV— THE  WAY  TO  THE  WEST— continued 

3.  Travel  on  the  rivers— continued  PAGE 

The  early  steamboats 364 

Peculiar  construction 364 

Inconveniences  of  travel  in  early  days 364 

Amount  of  travel 365 

Deck  passengers 366 

Comforts  enjoyed  by  cabin  passengers 366 

Unfavorable  accounts 36g 

Rules  governing  conduct  of  passengers 367 

Gambling 367 

Cost  of  travel 367 

Prices  gradually  lowered 368 

Prices  after  1840 368 

Cost  of  transporting  goods 368 

Volume  of  travel 369 

4.  Travel  along  wagon  roads 369 

Many  came  west  in  wagons 370 

Comments  of  newspapers 370 

Conveyances  used 371 

The  Pennsylvania  wagons 371 

The  New  York  wagons 

Goods  of  the  immigrants 

The  stock 3"71 

Howells'  description  of  a  trip 372 

General  method  of  making  trip 372 

Progress  slow 373 

Impossible  to  estimate  cost  of  travel  overland 373 

Taverns 373 

Only    general  statements   can  properly  be    made    con- 
cerning the  methods  by  which  the  settlers  came  to 

Illinois 374 

CHAPTER  V — THE  ILLINOIS  AND  THE  Fox  RIVER  VALLEYS  *  ' 

1.  The  middle  Illinois  rhrer  counties 375 

Mason  county 375 

Havana    377 

Location  of  population 377 

Tazewell  county  377 

Tremont 377 

Delavan 378 

The  common  house  in  Delavan 378 


294  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  V— THE  ILLINOIS  AND  THE  Fox  RIVER  VALLEYS— con. 
3.  The  upper  Illinois  river  counties — continued 

Tazewell  county — continued  PAGE 

A  temperance  colony 378 

The  Mackinaw  colony 378 

Other  settlements  in  Tazewell  county 379 

Location  of  settlements 379 

Woodf ord  county 379 

Settlements  were  small 380 

Mixed  population 380 

Marshall  county 380 

Paper  towns 381 

Character  of  the  population 381 

Putnam  county 381 

2.  Characterization  of  settlements  of  middle  Illinois  river  coun- 

ties    382 

Nativities  of  settlers 382 

Reason  for  the  equal  division  of  classes 382_ 

Character  of  woodland  pioneer 383 

Character  of  prairie  pioneer 383 

Increase  of  population  during  the  period 383 

3.  The  upper  Illinois  river  counties 383 

Early  settlements 383 

La  Salle  county 383 

Rockwell  colony 384 

Grundy  county 385 

Will  county 386 

Small  settlements 386 

Lockport 386 

General  advancement  of  this  section  during  period  of  1832 

to  1837 387 

Effect  of  panic  of  1837 387 

Not  noticeable  at  first 387 

Effect  upon  various  towns 387 

Increased  prosperity  after  1842 388 

Peru,  the  most  important  town 388 

La  Salle  a  type  of  western  towns 389 

*»Joiiet 389 

Nativities  of  settlers 389 

Influence  of  lines  of  communication 

Location  of  settlements 

Chicago's  influence  on  growth  of  settlement 

[8] 


CONTENTS 


295 


CHAPTER  V— THE  ILLINOIS  AND  THE  Fox  RIVER  VALLEYS— con.    PAGE 

N.  The  Fox  river  valley 391 

Early  settlements 391 

Years  following  1832  prosperous   392 

Kane  county 392 

Aurora 392 

St.  Charles 3P2 

Lake  county 392 

McHenry  county 393 

Period  1837  to  1843  one  of  slow  growth 393 

From  1843  to  1850  growth  steady 393 

Elgin  becomes  a  manufacturing  town 393 

Waukegan    394 

Nativities  of  settlers 394 

5.  General  statement  concerning  development 394 

Influence  of  transportation  lines 395 

The  towns  all  on  lines  of  communication 395 

CHAPTER  VI— THE  MILITARY  TRACT 

1.  Early  settlement  in  the  Military  Tract 397 

Few  soldiers  took  advantage  of  their  grants 397 

Squatters 397 

Peoria 398 

Calhoun  county 398 

Pike  county 399 

Schuyler  county 399 

Fulton  county 399 

General  location  of  settlers  in  the  Illinois  river  counties . .  399 

Adams  county 400 

Hancock  county 400  • 

Location  of  settlement  in  the  Mississippi  river  counties...  400 

Interior  counties 401 

Military  Tract  in  1830 402 

2.  Calhoun  and  Pike  counties  after  1830 402 

3.  Illinois  river  counties  from  1830  to  1840 402 

Brown  county 402 

Mt.  Sterling 403 

Schuyler  county 403 

Fulton  county 403 

Peoria  county 404 

[9] 


296  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  VI— THE  MILITARY  TRACT— continued  PAGE 

4.  Mississippi  river  counties.     (1830 — 1840) 405 

Adams  county '. . . .  405 

Development  of  Quincy 405 

Other  settlements  in  Adams  county 405 

Hancock  county 406 

Henderson  county 406 

Mercer  county 406 

5.  Inland  counties  of  the  Tract 407 

Early  settlements 407 

Warren  county 407 

Knox  county  and  Galesburg 407 

Henry  county 408 

Andover  settlement , 409 

Wethersfiald  colony 409 

New  York  colony 409 

Geneseo  colony 410 

Bureau  county 410 

Princeton 411 

Rapid  growth  after  1836 411 

Providence  colony 411 

6.  Summary  for  decade  1831—1840 412 

7.  The  Illinois  river  counties  from  1841—1850 413 

8.  The  Mississippi  river  counties  from  1841 — 1850 414 

Adams  county  and  Quincy 414 

Hancock  county 415 

•  Mormons 415 

Icarians 415 

Henderson  and  Mercer  counties 416 

9.  The  inland  counties  from  1841—1850 416 

McDonough,  Warren  and  Stark  counties 417 

Henry  county 417 

Bureau  county 417 

10.  Summary  for  the  Military  Tract 418 

Increase  for  the  period  from  1831  to  1850 418 

Prairies  not  settled  by  1850 418 

Cities  in  the  Tract 418 

Quincy  an  example  of  the  effect  of  favorable  location 418 

Second  class  of  towns 419 

Third  class  of  towns 419 

Colonies 

Nativities  of  the  settlers 

[10] 


CONTENTS  297 

CHAPTER  VII -THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY  PAGE 

1 .  The  country 421 

Exceptional  growth,  during  the  years  1831  to  1350 421 

The  settlements  before  1830 421 

Rock  Island 421 

Dixon 423 

All  early  settlements  were  on  the  Rock  river 423 

2.  From  the  Black  Hawk  War  to  1837 424. 

Troops  in  war  see  value  of  country 424 

Settlements  along  the  Rock  river 424 

Settlements  away  from  the  river 425 

Town  of  Sterling 425 

Northern  settlements  of  the  valley 425 

Boone  county 425 

Winnebago  County  and  Rockford 426 

Polish  grant 426 

Stephenson  county 426 

Period  shows  pioneer  preferences  for  settlement 427 

Little  development  in  the  towns 428 

3.  From  1837  to  1843 , 428 

Ogle  county 428 

Grand  Detour 429 

De  Kalb  county , 429 

Rockford 429 

Hard  times  in  Winnebago  county 430 

Growth  slow 430 

Stephenson  county 430 

Freeport 431 

The  "prairie  pirates" 431 

V  Scarcity  of  markets  retarded  settlement 432 

Trouble  over  claims 432 

4.  From  1843  to  1850 432 

Period  of  rapid  growth 432 

Reasons  for  the  growth 433 

Increase  is  in  the  country,  not  in  towns 433 

Ogle,  DeKalb  and  Boone  show  little  increase 434 

The  other  northern  counties  show  large  increase 434 

Rockford 435 

Farmers  prosperous 436 

Stephenson  county 436 

Immigrants  from  Pennsylvania 436 

Foreigners  in  the  county 436 

Freeport 437 

Scattered  settlements 437 

[11] 


298 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  VII— THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY— coutinued  PAGE 

5 .  Summary  for  the  Rock  river  valley 437 

Two  periods  of  development 437 

Rapid  increase  of  the  northern  counties 438 

Nativities  of  settlers 439 

Education  and  religion 439 

CHAPTER  VIII— EASTERN  ILLINOIS 

1 .  Wabash  river  counties 440 

Few  settlers  on  the  prairies 440 

Edgar  and  Vermilion  counties 442 

Danville 442 

Decade  1831  to  1840 442 

Decade  1841  to  1850 443 

Settlement  moves  towards  the  interior  of  the  state 443 

Danville  in  1850 443 

Other  settlements 444 

2 .  Settlements  before  1830 444 

McLean  county  settled  rapidly 445 

Important  towns  in  1830 445 

Change  comes  in  pioneer  life 446 

3 .  Southern  counties  of  eastern  Illinois  after  1830 446 

Jasper  county 446 

Colonie  des  Frdres 447 

Settlements  after  1845 447 

Cumberland  county 448 

Work  on  National  Road  helps  increase  settlement 448 

County  fills  up  slowly 448 

Effingham  county 449 

Teutopolis 449 

Shelby  and  Moultrie  counties 450 

Coles  county 450 

4 .  Central  counties  of  eastern  Illinois 451 

Champaign  county 451 

Urbana  the  county  town 451 

Settlement  of  Champaign  county  slow 451 

De  Witt  county 452 

Piatt  county 452 

Macon  county 452 

McLean  county 453 

Important  settlements  in  McLean  county 454 

Ohio  colony  in  McLean  county 454 

Rhode  Island  colony 454 

[12] 


CONTENTS 


299 


CHAPTER  VIII— EASTEKN  ILLINOIS— continued 

4.  Central  counties  of  eastern  Illinois — continued 

McLean  county — continued  PAGE 

Hudson  colony 454 

Bloomington 455 

Bloomington  in  1840 455 

5 .  Northern  counties  of  eastern  Illinois 456 

Kankakee  county 456 

Livingston  county 456 

Pontiac 456 

Location  of  settlement  in  the  county 457 

Slow  growth 457 

Iroquois  county 457 

Colonies  in  Iroquois  county 458 

Paper  towns 458 

6 .  Summary  for  Eastern  Illinois 458 

Small  urban  population 459 

Reason  for  few  towns 459 

Influence  of  timber  on  location  of  settlement 459 

Nativities  of  the  pioneers 460 

CHAPTER  IX— THE  LEAD  REGION 

1.  Early  explorations 461 

2.  Lead  Region  before  1830 461 

Under  government  control 461 

First  permanent  settlements 462 

Growth  begins  in  1822 462 

Arrival  of  Meeker  colony 463 

Establishment  of  new  mining  camps 463 

Lord  Selkirk's  colony 464 

Rapid  growth  begins  1826—1827 464 

Winnebago  War 465 

Organization  of  Jo  Daviess  county 465 

Desire  to  organize  a  new  territory 465 

Galena  in  1830 466 

3.  Lead  Region  after  1830 467 

Black  Hawk  War 467 

Expansion  after  Indian  treaty 467 

Galena  gradually  loses  characteristics  of  a  frontier  town. .  467 

Galena  in  1840 468 

Importance  of  the  city  as  a  trade  center 468 

Government  administration  of  mineral  lands 469 

Minor  settlements 470 

[13] 


300  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  IX— THE  LEAD  REGION— continued  PAGE 

4.  Carroll  county 471 

Savanna 471 

Mt.  Carroll 471 

5.  Settlement  of  the  Lead  Region  exceptional 472 

Frontier  characteristics  of  Galena 472 

Loss  of  frontier  characteristics 473 

Influence  of  water  communication  on  character  of  settle- 
ment    473 

Influence  of  the  mines  on  the  character  of  settlement 473 

CHAPTER  X— CHICAGO  -^ 

1.  Chicago  before  1832 (&& 

Major  Long's  prophecy  for  Chicago 475 

Chicago  in  1826 

Chicago  in  1830 

2.  Chicago  in  1832 476 

Rapid  growth  begins  in  1833 
Increase  in  1834 

Influence  of  speculation  in  1835 478 

Speculation  of  1835  and  1836 478 

Chicago  in  1835  and  1836 Ag^ 

Chicago  obtains  a  charter  in  1837 \480 

3.  The  financial  revulsion  of  1837. : 481 

Effect  upon  the  city 483 

4.  Chicago  from  1840  to  1843 4! 

Character  of  population (48 

City  rapidly  built  up 482 

xJhicago  a  shipping  point 482 

Origin  of  the  export  trade 483 

~ 

The  residence  district 

City  improvements 484 

Chicago  in  1843 ($84 

5.  Chicago  from  1843  to  1850 

Heterogeneous  population 

Chicago  a  manufacturing  city 4: 

Commerce 485 

Pew  city  improvements 486 

Unfavorable  comments  on  Chicago 486 

Attempts  to  remedy  defects 487 

Schools 487 

Churches 487 

Other  developments— police,  light 487 

Communication  with  interior 487 

[14] 


J 


CONTENTS 


301 


CHAPTER  X— CHICAGO— continued  PAGE 

6.  Suburban  communities 488 

7.  Chicago's  development  not  typical  of  western  growth 

Influence  of  location  on  growth 

Influence  of  location  on  character  of  population 

Chicago  the  result  of  physiographic  conditions 

CHAPTER  XI — FOREIGN  ELEMENTS  IN  THE  POPULATION  OF  ILLINOIS 

1.  General  statement  concerning  emigration (491 

Locations  preferred  by  foreigners 
Tendency  to  group  together 

\2.  Germans  in  Illinois 493 

Religious  unrest  a  cause  for  emigration 493 

Political  grievances  another  cause 494 

Economic  causes 494 

Crop  failures 494 

Transportation  companies 4! 

Early  settlements (_4 

Teutopolis 495 

Settlements  along  Illinois  river 496 

Settlements  in  northern  Illinois C^§§- 

In  the  Rock  River  Valley 4 

Germans  desirable  settlers (49 

Vg=* 

Reasons  for  some  Germans  settling  in  cities A49 

Politics  of  the  Germans 498 

\  Irish 

Causes  for  emigration 

Tendency  to  locate  in  cities 

Alon£  the  line  of  Illinois-Michigan  canal 

Some  became  farmers ." , 

Characteristics  of  Irish  settlers 

N.  English 501 

Causes  for  emigration 501 

General  depression. . . . , 501 

Exorbitant  taxes 502 

Political  troubles 502 

London  Roman  Catholic  Migration  Society 502 

Early  English  settlements  in  Illinois 

Later  settlements 

English  as  settlers (  503 

X5.  Scotch 

Economic  distress  the  cause  for  emigration 

Scotch  as  American  citizens 

[15] 


302  CONTEXTS 

CHAPTER  XI — FOREIGN  ELEMENTS  IN  THE  POPULATION  OF   ILL- 
INOIS— continued  PAGE 

6.  Scandinavians 

7.  French 

Early  French  in  Illinois 

Settlements  after  1830 

8.  Swiss 

9.  Portuguese 

10.  Poles,  Welsh,  Bavarians,  Jews 

11.  Line  of  the  Great  Lakes  responsible  for  much  of  foreign  ele-  ^^ 

ment  in  Illinois C§PJ 

Influence  of  climatic  conditions,  cheap  lands  and  hatred  ^-^ 

of  slavery L  507 

CHAPTER  XII— THE  MORMONS  IN  ILLINOIS 

1.  Social  settlements  in  Illinois 508 

The  Mormons  before  coming  to  Illinois 508 

In  Missouri 508 

2.  Mormons  in  Illinois 509 

Locate  in  Hancock  county .. .  509 

Rapid  growth  of  Nauvoo . 509 

Political  contest  for  Mormon  vote 510 

Charter  for  Nauvoo 510 

Nauvoo  a  government  within  a  government 511 

Nauvoo  legion 511 

Power  abused 511 

Charter  a  source  of  weakness  as  well  as  strength 512 

3.  Mormons  from  1812-1846 512 

Industries  in  Nauvoo 512 

Mormon  population  in  1842 513 

Settlement  in  1842 513 

Missionary  plans 514 

Results  of  missionary  work 514 

Newspaper  reports  of  colonies 514 

Growth  during  early  forties 514 

Foreigners  composed  most  of  settlement 515 

City  grows  in  wealth  and  beauty 515 

Travelers'  accounts  of  Nauvoo 516 

Country  farm  houses  not  so  good 517 

Nauvoo  in  1815..  517 


[16] 


'7.-::"7- 


CHAPTER  XII—  THK  M 


Hostility  to  the 


Bennett'sexpose 


Qimotionihln  i 


Arrest  of  Smith 


Ford  intetfena 


Murder  of  Josrph 


Panic  in  Xaovoo  and  Cvthage 


a  good  thing  fur  Oiiiots 


Eveu  the  fieedotn  of  the  frostier  co»H 


CHAPTER  XIII— CoMJitJMiic  sn 


laUodaeed  into  the  Uaitgd  States 


Integni  Phalanx 


Trip  fnm  Nev  York  to 


304  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  XIII— COMMUNISTIC  SETTLEMENTS  IN  ILLINOIS  —con. 

2.  The  Bishop  Hill  Colony— continued  PAGE 

Accounts  of  their  appearance 529 

Swedes  in  Illinois 529 

Erect  church 530 

Method  of  living 530 

Were  farmers 530 

Colony  prosperous  in  1850 531 

Dissension 531 

3.  Cabet's  settlement 531 

Doctrine  of  Cabet 532 

Supported  in  Europe 532 

Cabet  decides  to  move  to  America 532 

The  Texas  venture  fails 533 

Move  to  Illinois 533 

The  Constitution 533 

Everyday  life  of  the  community 534 

Not  molested  by  the  people  of  Illinois 534 

Breakdown  of  the  colony 534 

4.  Smaller  experiments 535 

General  plan  of  these  colonies 535 

Are  a  phase  of  western  expansion 535 

The  Phalanx  and  Icaria  as  examples  of  the  westward  move- 
ment   536 

Icaria  an  example  of  democratic    government  and  pure 

communism 536 

Phase  of  communism  in  the  Bishop  Hill  colony 537 

No  new  social  organization  attempted 537 

CHAPTER  XIV— THK  PRAIRIE  FARMER 

1 .  Pioneers  before  1830 538 

Influence  of  physiography 538 

Hunter  pioneers  driven  back  from  northern  Illinois 538 

Effect  of  steam  navigation  on  the  Great  Lakes 539 

Order  of  migration  of  classes  reversed 539 

^  Illinois  prairies  in  1830 639 

Pioneers  shun  the  prairies 540 

Occupy  small  clearings  made  in  timber 540 

Scarcity  of  timber  on  prairies 540 

Little  water 540 

Later  settlers  forced  onto  the  prairies 541 

Prairies  improve  upon  acquaintance 541 

Timberland  still  most  highly  prized    541 

[18] 


CONTENTS  305 

CHAPTER  XIV — THE  PRAIRIE  FARMER— continued 

2.  Illinois  prairies  in  1830— continued.  PAGE 

Reports  concerning  climate   541 

Much  sickness  in  the  new  country 542 

High  lands  most  heathful  543 

3.  The  home  of  the  prairie  man 543 

Furniture 543 

Prairie  houses 543 

Cost  of  lumber 544 

4.  The  farm 544 

Ploughing 544 

Difficulty  of  the  work 544 

Fences 545 

Wire  fence  solves  the  problem 546 

Trouble  with  gophers  and  prairie  chickens 546 

5.  Products  of  the  farms 547 

Transportation  problem 547 

Illinois-Michigan  canal 548 

Other  improvements 549 

Immense  plans  for  Illinois 549 

Effect'on  the  state  549 

Livestock , 549 

Shee  p 550 

6.1mproved  machinery 550 

Effect  upon  products 550 

Saw  mills  added  to  machinery 551 

7.  The  pioneer 551 

Woodland  pioneers 552 

The  true  southern  woodsman 552 

No  classes  in  northern  Illinois 553 

People  in  the  north  well-to-do 553 

The  disreputable  element 553 

Unfavorable  comment 553. 

Good  traits  of  pioneers 553, 

Hospitality 554. 

Effect  of  the  country  on  the  settlers 554 

Daily  life  of  pioneer 555 

Amusements 555  v 

Opposition  to  gambling 556;* 

Education 556 

Southern  settlers  and  education 557 

Northern  settlers  and  education    557 

Churches 557 

Work  of  the  early  settlers 553 

[19] 


306  ^CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  XV— CONCLUSION  PACK 

1 .  Comparative  viewa  of  Illinois , 

Frontier  line  in  1830 
Frontier  line  in  1840 
Frontier  line  in  1850 (559~~ 

Vii_       — 

Population  maps  give  only  general  idea  of  location  of  set- 
tlement   562 

2.  Period  from  1830  to  1832 562 

Effect  of  Black  Hawk  War 562 

3.  Period  from  1833  to  1837 562 

Effect  of  steam  navigation  on  the  lakes 563 

Desire  to  emigrate  to  West. 563 

Speculation  and  its  influence  upon  the  West 564 

The  years  1835  and  1836 564 

Paper  towns 564 

Successful  ventures 565 

Substantial  growth 566 

Lack  of  money  a  drawback  to  settlement 566 

Characteristics   of    northern    Illinois  settlement   firmly  < — ^ 

fixed  during  this  period CpJiLj 

Effect  of  steam  on  northern  Illinois 567 

•4.  The  period  of  depression,  1837  to  1843 563 

Immigration  to  the  West 563 

Unfavorable  conditions  in  Illinois 569 

Effect  of  specie  circular 569 

Finances  in  1842 569 

Disputes  over  land  claims 570 

Struggle  against  repudiation 570 

5.  The  period  of  recovery,  1843  to  1850 571 

Finances  in  1846 571 

Recovery  not  rapid  in  all  parts  of  the  state 571 

Effect  of  the  Douglas  land  bill  on  the  eastern  counties. . .  571 

Need  of  transportation   facilities  in  the  northern  counties  572 

Effect  of  transportation  lines  on  settlement 572 

Importance  of  lines  of  communication 573 

Nativities  of  the  settlers  of  Illinois 573 

Lines  of  communication  and  their  influence  on  sectionalism  573 
Period  from  1830  to   1850  one  of  beginnings;  the  railroad 

necessary  to  solve  the  prairie  problem 574 

[20] 


POOLEY SETTLEMENT    OF    ILLINOIS,    1830-50  309 

close  of  this  period  since  the  effects  of  the  fall  of  financial 
credit  were  not  felt  as  quickly  in  some  parts  of  the  state  as  in 
others.  The  date  falls  between  1837  and  1840.  The  third 
period  extends  to  1845  and  is  one  of  depression.  The  last 
period,  which  follows  1845,  is  marked  by  a  revival  of  confidence 
in  the  financial  condition  of  the  state  and  a  gradual  increase 
in  the  stream  of  immigration.  In  this  period  is  felt  the  in- 
fluence of  the  proposed  railroads.  In  a  general  way  it  is 
characterized  by  solid  and  substantial  growth  in  wealth  and 
population. 

Previous  to  1830  the  natural  order  of  progression  had  been 
observed  in  the  movement  of  settlement  to  the  West.  The 
hunter-pioneers  of  Kentucky  and  Tennessee  had  firmly  es- 
tablished themselves  in  the  southern  woodlands  of  Illinois  and 
had  begun  to  send  out  new  pioneers  who  traveled  up  the  great 
internal  waterway  of  the  state,  the  Illinois  river,  or  passed 
over  into  the  Military  Tract  and  followed  the  wooded  banks  of 
the  Mississippi  northward  to  the  lead  mines.  These  pioneers 
had  become  a  permanent  part  of  the  state's  population  but  as 
yet  had  not  ventured  away  from  the  woodlands.  They  were 
content  to  cultivate  their  little  clearings  in  the  timber  until 
succeeded  by  the  small  farmer,  who,  in  turn,  was  succeeded 
by  a  third  class,  the  more  substantial  farmer  in  search  of  a 
permanent  location.  The  prairies  were  still  unknown  and  the 
social  organization  of  the  South  was  waiting  for  some  means 
by  which  the  difficulties  accompanying  the  subjugation  of  the 
prairies  could  be  overcome. 

The  new  force  came  too  late  to  aid  the  earliest  class  of  settlers, 
for  events  operated  in  such  a  way  as  to  act  as  a  check  upon  the 
expansion  of  the  hunter-pioneer.  vln  1832  the  Black  Hawk 
War  broke  out,  driving  the  out-posts  of  settlement  backward 
into  the  stronger  southern  communities  and  before  a  recovery 
of  lost  ground  could  be  effected  a  more  powerful  check  was 
administered  to  the  expansion  of  settlement  from  the  southern 
part  of  the  state.  It  was  a  new  force  in  the  westward  move- 
ment and  by  means  of  it  the  natural  order  of  succession  of 
classes  was  overturned  and  the  class  of  substantial  farmers  was 
first  upon  the  prairies  of  northern  Illinois.  The  opening  of 

'[23] 


310  BULLETIN    OF   THE   UNIVERSITY    OF   WISCONSIN 

k 

steam  navigation  upon  the  lakes,  therefore,  introduced  a  new 
class  of  pioneers  into  the  westward  movement.  They  were  not 
in  possession  of  a  fund  of  experience  gleaned  from  pioneer 
ancestors  who  for  generations  had  battled  with  the  hardships 
and  problems  of  the  frontier.  They  were  simple  farmers  who 
were  placed  upon  land  already  partly  cleared  by  nature  for  oc- 
cupation; but  the  clearing  had  been  done  on  such  a  grand  scale 
that  the  abundance  of  riches  caused  trouble  in  the  attempt  to 
make  use  of  them.  With  these  prairie  settlers  the  discussion 
is  chiefly  concerned  and  1830  is  taken  as  the  starting  point. 

The  influence  of  lines  of  transportation  coupled  with  the  in- 
fluence exerted  by  the  prairies  of  northern  and  eastern  Illinois 
has  operated  to  change  the  character  of  the  western  pioneers. 
As  the  route  of  the  Ohio  and  the  southern  wagon  roads  gave 
character  to  the  settlements  in  the  South,  so  the  northern  route 
was  to  give  character  to  the  settlement  of  the  northern  counties 
and,  owing  to  the  increased  rapidity  of  communication  and  the 
increased  volume  of  immigration,  the  effect,  if  anything,  was 
to  be  more  marked. 

A  dovetailing  process  had  gone  on  in  the  central  part  of  the 
state  where  the  men  from  the  Middle  States  and  New  England 
elbowed  their  way  in  between  the  timber  tracts  of  the  South, 
while  the  southern  man  chopped  his  way  northward,  through  the 
timber  along  the  rivers,  until  he  had  reached  Woodford,  Mar- 
shall and  Putnam  counties.  Here  the  characteristics  are  not 
so  marked. 

\  A  comparison  of  those  of  the  northern  and  southern  ends 
of  the  state  will,  however,  bring  out  clearly  the  distinction. 
Instead  of  a  gradual  settlement  by  successive  classes  in  the 
North,  as  there  had  been  in  the  South  where  the  hunter  and  back- 
woodsman with  his  rifle  and  hunting  knife  slowly  moved  on- 
ward before  the  increasing  tide  of  civilization,  combatting  the 
savages  and  wild  beasts,  we  see  another  development.  The 
pioneer  was  rapidly  transported  from  his  native  state  to  the 
West  by  the  aid  of  steam  and  his  conquest  of  the  new  country 
was  effected  with  like  rapidity.  Instead  of  the  rifle  and 
hunting  knife  he  brought  his  oxen  and  his  farming  implements. 
Nor  was  this  all;  the  merchant,  the  artisan,  the  school  master 

[24] 


POOLEY— SETTLEMENT    OF    ILLINOIS,    1830-50 

nd  the  preacher  came  also.  The  foundations  of  civilization 
were  laid  rapidly  and  creation  rather  than  growth ^ seems  to  have 
been  the  order  of  things.  The  savages  having  left,  the  pic 
had  a  free  hand  and  the  spread  of  settlement  'went  on  with 
corresponding  celerity.  Churches  and  school  ho.  3ess]  ang  up 
together  with  comfortable  dwellings,  for  the  log-c 


n^£^  ^  tad  r  —.  ,-« 

upon  the  location  of  population.    Along  the  s  teams  lay  V* 
timber  and  to  the  timber  went  the  early  settlers  both  from 

sasss 


neither  did  the  river,  tend  to  overflow 


FCTr,  indeed,  and  small  were  ^fg-gj^^OT 


312  BULLETIN    OF    THE    UNIVERSITY    OF    WISCONSIN 

wise  were  obliged  to  cart  to  a  river  port;  those  of  central  Ill- 
inois looked  to  Chicago  for  a  market,  often  going  one  hundred 
or  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles  with  farm  produce  at  the  cost 
of  much  time.  Internal  improvements  were  meeting  with  suc- 
cess in  other  parts  of  the  land,  so  it  was  natural  that  they 
should  be  attempted  in  Illinois  where  markets  were  in  great 
demand. 

The  succeeding  periods  show  like  development  and  it  is 
highly  probable  that  little  by  little  the  prairies  would  have  been 
assimilated,  but  it  would  have  been  a  slow  process,  owing  to 
the  difficulties  of  transportation  and  of  finding  markets.  When 
1850  came,  the  northern  part  of  the  state  presented  a  peculiar 
bird's  eye  vie'w — strips  of  comparatively  closely  settled  country 
stretched  away  in  every  direction,  indicating  the  timber  tracts, 
while  between  them  was  the  unoccupied  prairie.  Here  lay  the 
work  for  the  railroads  and  these,  by  practically  annihilating 
distances,  created  markets  by  bringing  the  producer  and  the 
consumer  together,  gave  the  settler  something  to  cling  to  when 
he  swung  clear  of  the  timber ;  in  short,  gave  him  the  key  to  the 
prairie. 

Exceptions  are,  of  course,  to  be  found  to  the  general  laws 
controlling  the  settlement  of  the  prairies,  but  they  are  not  fre- 
quent enough  to  overthrow  these  laws  which  seem  to  be  the 
basis  of  the  occupation  of  northern  and  eastern  Illinois. 

The  object  of  this  discussion  is  to  show  the  progress  of  set- 
tlement on  the  Illinois  prairies,  paying  special  attention  to  the 
influence  of  physiographic  conditions,  to  lines  of  communication 
and  to  the  change  which  took  place  so  abruptly  in  the  character 
of  the  pioneer  class  of  the  "West,  and  to  show  the  differences  ex- 
isting between  the  pioneer  of  the  woodlands  and  the  pioneer  of 
the  prairielands.  Causes  for  the  settlement  are  to  be  noted, 
as  well  as  such  settlements  as  appear  to  be  exceptional  in  char- 
acter and  illustrative  of  some  peculiar  phase  of  the  westward 
expansion. 


[26] 


POOLEY SETTLEMENT    OF    ILLINOIS,     1830-50  313 


CHAPTER  II 


ILLINOIS  BEFORE  1830 


For  many  years  subsequent  to  the  Revolution,  Illinois  at- 
tracted but  little  attention.  The  legislature  of  Virginia,  how- 
ever, in  1778  organized  a  county  to  which  it  gave  the  name 
now  borne  by  the  state  and  appointed  for  this  newly  organized 
county  a  magistrate  called  a  Lieutenant  Governor.  It  came 
under  the  control  of  the  confederation  when  ceded  in  1784  by 
'Virginia. 

Although  for  years  Kentucky  and  Tennessee  had  afforded 
homes  for  pioneer's  who  had  found  their  way  over  the  moun- 
tains to  the  western  world,  Illinois  and  the  Northwest  seemed 
to  offer  few  inducements.  After  visiting  the  territory  north- 
west of  the  Ohio,  preparatory  to  its  organization  into  the  North- 
west Territory,  Monroe  wrote  to  Jefferson  in  a  tone  which  showed 
that  he  had  as  yet  no  comprehension  of  the  future  greatness  of 
this  seemingly  desolate  country.  "A  great  part  of  the  territory 
is,"  he  said,  "miserably  poor  especially  that  near  Lakes  Mich- 
igan and  Erie,  and  that  upon  the  Mississippi  and  the  Illinois 
consists  of  extensive  plains  which  have  not  had  from  appear- 
ances, and  will  not  have,  a  single  bush  on  them  for  ages.  The 
districts,  therefore,  within  which  these  fall  will  never  contain1 
a  sufficient  number  of  inhabitants  to  entitle  them  to  member- 
ship in  the  confederacy."1 

For  a  time  it  seemed  that  Monroe  had  spoken  truthfully  for, 
as  yet,  the  railroads,  the  steamboats  and  the  farming  implements 
which  were  to  be  of  service  in  the  settlement  of  the  great 
prairies  were  unkno'wn.  Changes,  however,  soon  began  to  take 


1  Monroe.  Writings,  1,  117. 

[27] 


314  BULLETIN    OF    THE    UNIVERSITY    OF    WISCONSIN 


enceville 


hawneetown 


ILLINOIS  IN  1830 

Shaded  portion  shows  location  of  settlement :  six  or  move  per  square  mile ;  by 

counties. 


POOLEY SETTLEMENT.  OF    ILLINOIS,    1830-50  315 

place.  The  soldiers  of  George  Rogers  Clark  carried  with  them 
to  the  East  tales  of  a  'wonderfully  fertile  and  well-watered  land/- 
and soon  the  familiar  story  of  pioneer  life  was  re-enacted  in  the 
river  valleys  of  Illinois.  The  descendants  of  the  frontiersmen 
who  had  chopped  the  first  trails  across  the  AUeghanies  and 
who  first  wandered  through  the  lonely  western  wilderness  and 
built  the  small  stockaded  hamlets  of  Kentucky  and  Tennessee, 
impelled  by  the  same  restlessness  which  carried  their  fathers 
toward  the  West  now  moved  across  the  Ohio  to  continue  the 
struggle  with  wild  nature  and  the  wilder  redmen.  for  possession 
of  the  territory  which  today  constitutes  the  state  of  Illinois. 

The  scene  of  earliest  settlement  in  Illinois  was  the  great 
American  Bottom;  The  settlers  were  the  French  who  acted 
as  a  connecting  link  between  the  French  of  Canada  and  the 
Great  Lakes  and  those  of  the  lower  Mississippi.  The  American 
Bottom,  so  called  to  distinguish  it  from  the  Spanish  possessions 
across  the  river,  was  an  extremely  fertile  tract  of  land  extend- 
ing from  the  mouth  of  the  Kaskaskia  to  the  mouth  of  the  Ill- 
inois and  containing  about  six  hundred  square  miles.2  The 
French  settlements  extended  along  this  bottom  from  Kaskaskia 
to  Cahokia  more  than  fifty  miles,  and  back  a  few  miles  from 
the  Mississippi.  By  1800  the  French  Creoles  in  these  settle-  \ 
ments  numbered  about  1,200.3 

Several  generations  had  flourished  here  happily  under  the 
mild  sway  of  French  officials — the  military  commandant  and 
the  priest — who  ruled  the  people  with  an  uncontrolled  but 
parental  authority.  Separated  from  all  the  world  these  people 
acquired  many  peculiarities  in  language,  dress,  manners  and 
customs.  Many  of  their  original  traits  were  lost  but  still  many  of 
the  leading  characteristics  of  the  nation  were  retained.  The  people 
were  kind-hearted,  hospitable  and  social  but  rivalled  the  Indians 
themselves  for  ignorance  and  laziness.  A  fruitful  country 
made  agriculture  profitable  when  carried  on,  but  the  great 
amount  of  game  within  easy  reach  tended  to  make  the  young 
Frenchman  follow  the  life  of  a  hunter  rather  than  that  of  a 


2  Brown,  Western  Gazetteer  ami    Emiyrun-ts'   Guide    (1817),   20. 

3  Reynold  ,  Illinois,  19. 


[39] 


316  BULLETIN    OF    THE    UNIVERSITY    OF    WISCONSIN 

farmer.4  In  mechanic  arts  no  progress  had  been  made;  the 
old  wooden  plows  used  in  the  early  days  still  served  the  needs 
of  this  unprogressive  people. 

The  dress,  and  homes  of  this  quiet  people  were  equally  simple. 
Coarse  blue  cotton  clothes,  deer  skin  moccasins  for  their  feet, 
blue  handkerchiefs  for  their  heads  were  worn  by  both  sexes.  In 
cold  weather  the  skins  of  animals  replaced  the  cotton  clothing. 
Log  houses,  a  single  story  high,  with  puncheon  floors  and 
thatched  roofs  were  their  abodes.  The  furniture  was  designed 
for  usefulness  rather  than  ornament.5 

Around  the  village  was  a  large  tract  known  as  the  common 
field.  Most  of  this  was  allowed  to  remain  in  open  pasturage 
but  parts  were  cultivated  by  those  who  chose  to  enclose  them. 
Occupancy  gave  a  title  to  land  but  all  reverted  to  the  com- 
munity when  occupation  ceased. 

So  the  Americans1  found  them,  a  people  of  simple  habits,  un- 
ambitious and  submissive,  unoppressed  by  taxes  or  political 
grievances,  recognizing  a  single  church  and  under  the  leader- 
ship of  the  village  priest  who  was  their  guide,  friend  and 
philosopher. 

By  1781  the  earliest  American  settlements  had  been  made  in 
the  American  Bottom.  In  1800  there  were  three  hundred  and 
fifty  families  settled  here,  most  of  the  men  having  been  soldiers 
of  George  Rogers  Clark  during  his  campaigns  against  Vin- 
cennes  and  Kaskaskia.  Two  colonies  of  Virginians  had  come 
in  1786  and  1793  settling  at  New  Design  and  in  the  surrounding 
country  forming  the  nucleus  of  the  American  settlements.6 
Other  settlers  came  from  the  various  eastern  states.7  In  all 
the  population  of  the  state  numbered  2,000  in  1800.8 

During  the  first  decade  of  the  new  century  population  in- 
creased rapidly,9  but  the  greater  part  was  still  in'  the  American 


4  Hall,  SketcJies  (1835).  1,  148. 

5  Mayazine  of  Western  History,  1O,  562. 

8  Settlements     were     made    at     Horse    Prairie,     Whiteside     Station    and    Belie- 
fontaine  in  Monroe  county  and  at  Turkey  Hill  in  St.  Clair  county. 

7  There  were  settlers  from  Virginia.  Kentucky,  Maryland,  Tennessee,  New  York. 
New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania  and  New  England. 

8  Reynolds.  Illinois.  19. 

•  The  census  of  1810  states  population  as  12.284 ;  Reynolds,  Illinois,  10,  gives 
population  as  2,000  in  1800. 

[30] 


POOLEY SETTLEMENT    OF    ILLINOIS,     1830-50  317 

i  Bottom  although  the  frontier  line  was  gradually  moving  towards 
the  interior  of  the  state.10  Across  the  territory  in  the  Saline 
district  a  center  of  settlement  had  begun  to  form.  In  1803  the 
salt  springs  had  been  purchased  from  the  Indians  and  leased 
by  the  government  to  Captain  Bell,  a  Kentuckian.11  Shawnee- 
town,  the  center  of  the  district,  soon  began  to  give  evidence  of 
becoming  a  town  of  some  importance  especially  as  a  commer- 
cial center.  (It  was  on  the  Ohio  river,  the  great  highway  for 
traffic  and  travel  to  the  West  and  even  at  this  early  date  "great 
fleets  of  keel-boats  concentrated  at  this  point  engaged  in  salt  and 
other  traffic. ' n2 ';  Indian  treaties  during  the  decade  opened  up 
millions  of  acres  of  Illinois  land  for  settlement  but  in  spite  of 
this  fact  the  settlements  still  clung  to  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi 
rivers.13 

r"From  the  formation  of  Illinois  territory  in  1809  until  the 
close  of  the  War  of  1812,  the  settlements  were  engaged  in  a 
struggle  for  existence.  Many  were  abandoned  during  the  war, 
on  account  of  Indian  troubles.  In  the  years  immediately  fol- 
lowing 1810  the  Chippewas,  Kickapoos  and  Pottowatomies 
committed  so  many  murders  and  thefts  that  Gov.  Edwards 
raised  a  military  force  to  suppress  the  disturbers.  One  expedi- 
tion destroyed  a  French  village  at  Peoria  which  had  been  the 
headquarters  of  a  band  of  savages  who  ravaged  the  country. 

Reports  of  the  unhealthfoilness  of  the  new  country,  of  Indian 

outrages,  of  earthquakes,  and  the  insecurity  of  land  titles  all 

operated  to 'retard  the  flow  of  settlers  from  the  eastern  states. 

/Owing  to  the  fact  that  Illinois  had,  at  different  times,  been 

'under  French.  British,  Virginian  and  Federal  rule,  land  titles 

were  often  conflicting.     A  commission  appointed  in  1804  labored 

for  ten  years  to  adjust  these  titles  previous  to  the  opening  of 

the  land  sale  at  Kaskaskia  in  1814.     /The  pre-emption  act  of 

1813  did  much  to  secure  the  pioneers    in    theit'  possessions.14 


10  Riclse  Farm.  Goschen,  Wood  River,  Silver  Creek,  and  Shoal  Creek  were  the 
new  settlements. 

11  Moses,  Illinois,  1,  265. 
"Reynolds,  Illinois,  OB. 

13 The  treaties  of  Ft."- Wayne  (1803)  :  Vincennes  (1803)  ;  St.  Louis  (1804)  and 
the  second  treaty  of  Vincennes  (1804)  opened  28,000,000  acres  of  Illinois  land1 
to  settlement. 

14  Davidson  and  Stuve,  Illinois,  291. 


[31] 


318  BULLETIN    OF    THE    UNIVERSITY  SIW 

With  the  passage  of  this  act  and  with  the  0'ion  of  Indian' 
raids  after  the  close  of  the  War  of  18 1'.  j  a  3v  epoch  in  the 
settlement  of  the  state  began.  The  settlers  acquired  confidence, 
land  rose  in  demand  and  in  value.15  New  Englanders  and 
foreigners  came  in  greater  numbers  than  ever  before.  The  close 
of  the  European  wars  had  ruined  the  lucrative  commerce  of 
New  England  and  thrown  many  out  of  employment,  some  of 
whom  found  their  way  to  Illinois. 

^"^The  great  highway  of  travel  was  the  Ohio  river.  A  writer 
of  the  time  says  ' '  there  is  scarce  a  day  except  when  the  river  is 
impeded  with  ice  but  what  there  is  a  greater  or  less  number  of 
boats  to  be  seen  floating  down  its  gentle  current  to  some  place 
of  destination.  No  less  than  five  hundred  families  stopped  at 
Cincinnati  at  one  time,  many  of  them  having  come  a  great  dis- 
tance."16 Prom  Kentucky  and  Tennessee  groups  of  pioneers 
still  came  seeking  the  extreme  frontier. 

Others  came  from  the  South  Atlantic  states.  Cotton  culture 
had,  through  the  invention  of  the  gin  and  through  the  prevail- 
ing high  prices,  become  exceedingly  profitable.  The  plantations 
were  increasing  in  size  and  numbers  and  the  introduction  of 
the  industry  into  the  uplands  tended  to  crowd  out  the  small 
farmer  since  his  more  wealthy  neighbor  could  offer  prices  for 
land  which  practically  compelled  him  to  sell.  Some  who  moved 
went  to  the  Gulf  States ;  others  wishing  to  avoid  the  competition 
of  slave  labor  turned  to  the  northwest,  and  it  became  a  familiar 
sight  to  people  along  the  roads,  of  western  travel  to  see  the  old 
southern  wagons  covered  with  white  sheeting  and  loaded  with 
an  enormous  quantity  of  beds,  buckets,  old-fashioned  chairs 
and  such  household  furniture  as  was  usually  owned  by  our 
]og-cabin  ancestors,  slowly  rattling  along  their  way  to  the  West. 

On  the  eastern  side  of  the  territory  the  district  of  the  Em- . 
barras  'was  still  the  northern  limit  of  settlement  although  there 
were  a  few  settlers  as  far  north  as  Edgar  county.     Crawford 
county  with  Palestine  as  a  center  of  settlement  had  2,100  set- 
tlers at  the  time  of  the  admission  of  the  state.17    Russelville 


15  Brown,  Western  Gazetteer  and  Emigrants'  Director!/   (1817),  33. 
19  Harding,  Tour  through  the  Western  Country,  5. 
"History  of  Ciwfwfl  and  Clark  counties,  108. 

[32] 


POOLEY SETTLEMENT    OF    ILLINOIS,    1830-50  319 

in  the  county  next  to  the  south  was  the  center  of  population. 
Directly  to  the  west  of  Wabash  county  was  the  English  settle- 
ment of  Albion  in  Edwards  county.  This  settlement,  begun  by 
Birkbeck  and  Flower,  was  one  of  the  most  important  ones1  in 
Illinois.18  Gallatin  county  iwith  Shawneetown  as  its  chief  settle- 
ment was  the  most  populous  county  on  the  eastern  side  of  the 
territory,  having  in  1818  about  3,200  settlers.19  Thirty  or  forty 
of  these  families  resided  in  Shawneetown.  A  bank  and  a  land 
office  helped  to  make  this  village  a  decidedly  important  one. 
America  with  a  population  of  several  hundred  was  the  chief 
southern  town,20  Cairo  had  a  "local  habitation  and  a  name" 
having  as  yet  not  fulfilled  the  expectations  of  its  founders. 

On  the  western  .side  of  the  territory  the  pioneers  grouped 
their  settlements  into  three  divisions,  those  settlements  around 
the-Bio-  Mnddv  river,  those  along  the  Kaskaskia  and  those  north 
of  this  last  named  district  extending  as  far  as"  Peoria,  Of  these 
the  settlements  along  the  Big  Muddy  were  the  weakest  for  the 
people  moved  very  slowly  towards  the  center  of  the  state. 

The  old  Kaskaskia  district  was  still  the  most  populous  one 
in  the  territory.21  Settlements  had  been  made  along  the  Kas- 
kaskia and  its  tributaries  for  a  considerable  distance  towards 
the  interior.  Kaskaskia,  the  seat  of  the  territorial  government, 
had  a  large  floating  population  but  the  increase  of  permanent 
settlers  was  not  large.  There  were  in  the  town  in  1815  be- 
tween seven  and  ten  hundred  people.22  Belleville,  Cahokia, 
and  Prairie  du  Long  were  the  other  important  settlements  of 
this  part  of  the  state.23  In  the  interior  there  were  few  settlers.2* 

In  the  district  above  Kaskaskia,  Edwardsville,  the  county 
town  of  Madison  county,  had  sixty  or  seventy  houses,  a  court- 
house, a  jail,  a  bank,  a  land  office  and  a  newspaper.25  Alton 


.   ia  Daviuson  and  Stuve,  Illinois,  349. 
"Dana,  Sketches  of  Western  Country  (1819),  153. 
20  History  of  Alexander,  Union  and  Pulaski  counties,  449. 
11  Estimated  at  11,842  (Dana,  Sketches  of  the  Western  Country  (1819),  153). 

22  Edwards,  Illinois,  254. 

23  Cahokia  had  a  population  of  between  five  hundred  (Moses,  Illinois,  1,  267) 
and  one  thousand  (Life  of  Gurdon  8.  HuWxird,  47). 

24  Bond  county  had  only  forty  settlers  in  1818  (History  of  Bond  and  Montgom- 
ery counties,  181).     The  Washington  county  settlements  were  at  Covington,  Beau- 
coup  and  Carlyle. 

25  Dana,  Sketches  of  the  Western  Country  (1819),  143. 

3  [33] 


320  BULLETIN    OF    THE    TJNIVEKSITY    OF    WISCONSIN 

had  one  hundred  houses,  the  owners  of  many  of  these  being 
people  from  the  eastern  states  and  in  comfortable  circum- 
stances.26 The  other  settlements  were  smaller.27  In  all  the 
population  of  Madison  county  was  estimated  at  from  4,000  to 
5,500.28 

Beyond  the  frontiers  already  mentioned  (the  line  of  the  Ohio 
and  "Wabash,  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the  Big  Muddy  and  of 
the  Kaskaskia  and  in  Madison  county)  little  settlement  was  to 
be  found  in  the  territory.  The  Kickapoos,  a  warlike  Indian 
tribe,  held  undisputed  possession  of  central  Illinois  and  con- 
tinued to  do  so  until  the  Treaty  of  Edwardsville  was  signed 
in  1819. 29  A  few  venturesome  Kentuckians  and  Tennesseeans, 
together  with  some  from  the  older  settlements  on  the  western 
side  of  Illinois  had,  however,  pushed  into  the  Sangamon  country 
before  the  Indian  title  had  been  extinguished.  These  were  the 
only  settlers  of  the  region. 

Far  to  the  north  in  the  lead  region  the  first  permanent  white 
settlers  were  beginning  to  locate  on  Fever  river.  Likewise  a 
few  were  at  Ft.  Dearborn  which  had  been  rebuilt  in  1816.  The 
Military  'Tract,  although  laid  off,  was  as  yet  entirely  unoccu- 
pied. 

The  population  of  the  territory  when  it  began  to  seek  ad- 
mission into  the  Union  was  30,000.  Since  40,000  was  necessary 
for  admission  it  devolved  upon  the  census  takers  to  make  up 
the  deficiency.  One  very  effective  plan  was  to  station  the  enum- 
erators on  the  largest  thoroughfares  so  they  might  be  able  to 
count  explorers,  movers  and  settlers.  As  a  result  more  than 
one  family  of  ten  people  grew  to  three  or  four  times  that  num- 
ber when  finally  placed  in  the  census  books.30 

Varied  indeed  was  the  population  as  the  following  quotation  x 
shows.     "The  early  settlement  of  Clinton  county  will  illustrate 
the  heterogeneous  nativity  of  early  immigrants.     Before  1820 


MIbid.,  142. 

27  Mound  Piaira  and   Milton  were  the  other  settlements.  The  latter  had  fifty 
houses  (Htetory  of  Madison  County,  S3). 

28  In  the  History  of  Madison  County   (130)    the  population  of  the   county   is 
given  as  4,000;  Dana,  Sketches  (1819)  153,  gives  an  estimate  of  5,500. 

29  Henderson,  Early  History  of  Sangamon  County,  1. 

^     *°  Brown,  Early  Illinois,  82,  in  Fcryus  Historical  Scries  2. 

[34] 


POOLEY SETTLEMENT    OF    ILLINOIS,    1830-50  321 

there  was  a  little  group  from  Ohio;  another  from  England,  and 
several  representatives  from  Virginia,  Pennsylvania,  North 
Carolina,  Georgia,  Kentucky,  Tennessee  and  one  man  from  the 
Isle  of  Wight."31  It  is  true  that  the  pioneers  from  the  South- 
west exceeded  the  others  in  numbers  but  foreigners,  people 
from  the  Middle  Atlantic  states  and  New  Englanders  were  far 
from  being  unknown  in  any  of  the  regions.  The  Ohio  river 
was  the  means  of  directing  these  settlers  to  southern  Illinois  and 
adding  the  northern  element  to  the  preponderating  southern 
stream  which  had  come  by  way  of  the  wagon  roads. 

Fifteen  counties  had  been'  organized  but  altogether  they 
formed  but  one-fourth  of  the  territory  and  were  by  no  means 
thickly  settled.  A  line  drawn  from  Alton,  on  the  Mississippi, 
through  Carlyle  to  Palestine  on  the  Wabash  would  mark  the 
northern  extremity  of  settlement,  but  by  no  means  does  it  mark 
the  settled  portion  of  the  territory.32  The  pioneers  clung  closely 
to  the  great  river  systems,  making  their  clearings  and  erecting 
their  cabins  along  the  banks  of  these  streams. 

Within  the  boundary  stated  were  prairies  of  considerable 
/  size,  some  of  them  being  three  days  journey  across.33     The  set- 
|  tiers,  as  yet,  had  not  ventured  upon  them,  believing  them  en- 
tirely unfit  for  settlement.     Palestine,  Palmyra,  Carmi,  Shaw- 
'  neetown,  Golconda  and  Albion  were  the  population  centers  of 
eastern  Illinois  at  the  time  of  its  admission.     On  the  west  Jones- 
boro,  Brownsville,  Kaskaskia,  Harrisonville,  Belleville,  Cahokia, 
Edwardsville  and  Alton  were  of  greatest  importance.     In  the 
interior,  Perrysville  and  Covington  'were  the  centers.     Of  these 
Kaskaskia,  the  seat  of  government  and  Shawneetown  were  the 
best  known  and  thither  as  a  rule  the  early  pioneers  came  and 
from  these  "points  made  explorations  for  the  purpose  of  find- 
ing suitable  places  to  settle. 

The  year  1824  marks  a  turning  point  in  the  growth  of  the 
state.  By  the  ordinance  of  1787  slavery  had  been  forbidden  in1 
the  Northwest  Territory,  but  it  nevertheless  existed  in  some 
portions  of  Illinois.  A  considerable  number  of  the  settlers  of 


81  History  of  Marlon  and  Clinton  counties,  54. 

"Davidson  and  Stuv6,  Illinois,  302. 

M  Breese,  Early  History  of  Illinois,  preface  3. 


[35] 


322  BULLETIN"    OF    THE    UNIVERSITY    OF    WISCONSIN 

the  state  being  southerners  who  favored  the  institution,  arc 
attempt  was  made  in  the  early  twenties  to  call  a  convention  to 
revise  the  state  constitution  in  such  a  manner  as  to  make  slavery 
lawful.34  The  defeat  of  the  plan  came  in  1824  and  from  that 
time  dates  an  increase  in  immigration.  Growth  now  went  on 
more  rapidly  and  when  1830  came  the  fifteen  counties  of  1818 
had  grown  to  twenty-six  and  the  population  was  157,44535  in- 
stead of  the  scanty  40,000  required  for  admission. 

New  settlements  continued  to  spring  up  and  the  older  ones 
to  increase  in  size.36  America,  G-reenville,  Mayville,  Frankfort, 
Equality,  McLeansboro,  Vienna,  Lawrenceville,  Salem,  Water- 
loo, Pinckneyville,  Jonesboro,  Fairfield  and  Vandalia  each  grew 
to  some  importance  before  1830,37  the  last  named  one  being  made 
the  capital  city  of  the  state  in  1819. 88  These  towns  were  in  the 
immediate  vicinity  of  the  rivers  and  often  in  the  timber  lining 
the  banks. 

Albion  was  an  exception  to  the  rule,  however,  having  no  water 
communication  close  at  hand.  Faux,  who  was  not  entirely 
friendly,  describes  the  village  in  1820  as  having  but  "one  bouse 
and  ten  or  twelve  log  cabins,  full  of  degenerating  English  me- 
chanics, too  idle  to  work"  who  passed  their  time  eating,  drink- 
ing, brawling  and  fighting.  The  streets  were  almost  impass- 
able owing  to  stumps  and  roots  of  trees  protruding  and  puddles 
of  dirty  water  standing  before  the  doors  of  the  cabins.39  The 
town  by  1830  had  grown  considerably,  mechanics  of  every  dis- 
cription  were  here  and  a  hotel,  a  smithy  and  some  stores  had 
taken  the  place  of  the  cabins.40 

Shawneetown  had  grown  from  a  town  of  three  or  four  houses 
to  a  town  of  sixty  houses  and  three  hundred  inhabitants  in 


81  Harris,  Negro  Servitude  in  Illinois,  27-49. 
35  Eleventh  Census  (1890),  14. 

86  In  1819  some  Shakers  established  a  settlement  in  Lawrence  county  on  the 
Embarras  river.     Frederick  Ernst,  a  German  of  wealth  and  education,  founded  a 
German  settlement  at  Vandalia  in  1819  (Reynolds,  Illinois,  183).  Scattered  settle- 
ments were  made   along  the  Little  Vermilion,   the  pioneers  being  generally  en- 
gaged in  salt  making. 

87  The  National  Calendar,  (1830). 
38  History  of  Fayettc  County,  12. 

"Faux,  Memorable  Days  in  America,  26»;  Smith,  C.  W.,  A  Contribution 
toward  a  "biography  of  Morris  Birkbeck  and  the  English  Settlement  in  Edwards 
County,  Illinois  In  Transactions  of  the  Illinois  State  Historical  Society,  (1905), 
Fordham,  B.  P.,  Personal  Narrative.  (Ogg,  F.  A.  Editor). 

40  Stuart,  Three  Years  in  Nortli  America,  -.  237. 


[36] 


POOLEY SETTLEMENT    OF    ILLINOIS,    1830-50  323 

1826.41  It  was  still,  at  the  close  of  the  decade  1821  to  1830, 
the  chief  town  of  the  eastern  side  of  the  state  and  the  landing 
place  of  a  great  portion  of  the  immigrants  coming  by  way  of 
-  the  Ohio.42  Cairo  made  no  headway  and  in  1826  was  still  a 
village  with  only  a  tavern  and  a  store.43 

The  villages  of  southern  Illinois  at  this  period  were  but 
frontier  settlements  containing  from  one  to  two  hundred  in- 
habitants and  many  not  more  than  twenty  or  thirty.44  The 
risers  were  the  connecting  links  between  the  settlements  and  the 
chief  lines  of  communication  with  the  outside  world.  Roads, 
'too,  were  opened  up  between  the  chief  centers  of  settlement. 
Prom  Vincennes,  Shawneetown,  Golconda  and  America  roads 
went  across  the  state  to  St.  Louis  and  Kaskaskia.  Throughout 
the  timbered  tracts  the  settlers  were  scattered,  forming  ribbons 
of  settlement  from  the  two  great  rivers  on  the  south  and  west 
of  the  state;  but  few  indeed  ventured  further.  Even  as  late 
as  1830  the  Indians  came  back  to  hunt  within  the  limits  of 
settlement  and  fear  of  them  retarded  the  advancement  of  the 
frontier. 

Although  southern  Illinois  was  as  yet  not  thickly  settled,  it 
had  begun  to  throw  out  lines  of  pioneers  towards  the  north. 
The  eastern  portion  of  the  state  close  to  the  rivers  was  well 
taken  up,  as  was  the  western  part,  but  between  the  two  lay 
the  unoccupied  portion.  Rather  than  risk  the  attempt  to  settle 
and  cultivate  the  prairies,  the  new  settlers  preferred  to  go 
farther  towards  the  frontier.  It  was  a  simple  and  natural 
force  which  impelled  them.  The  fathers  and  grandfathers  of 
these  men  from  Kentucky  and  Tennessee  had  battled  with 
nature  in  the  woodlands  of  the  Southwest;  the  pioneers  them- 
selves had  grown  to  manhood  surrounded  by  the  'woodlands,  they 
were,  in  the  settlement  of  Illinois,  merely  putting  into  operation 
the  results  of  the  experiences  of  two  or  three  generations  of 
pioneers.  To  them  the  prairies  offered  insurmountable  ob- 
stacles with  which  they  felt  it  'was  useless  to  cope.  When  the 


41  History  of  GaUatin,  Saline,  Hamilton,  Franklin  and  Williamson  Counties,  95. 
12  Edwards,  History  of  Illinois,  359. 
**  The  Americans  as  They  Are,  78. 

**  Patterson,    Early    Society   in   Southern   Illinois,    109,    In    Fergus    Historical 
Series,  2,  14. 

[37] 


324  BULLETIN    OF    THE    UNIVERSITY    OF    WISCONSIN 

timberland  of  southern  Illinois  was  all  claimed,  the  stream  of 
men  from  the  old  settlements  slowly  urged  their  oxen  north- 
ward through  the  settled  portions  to  the  new  country  which  at 
that  time  was  rapidly  gaining  in  fame.  Here  in  this  Sangamon 
country  the  hunter-pioneer  found  an  ideal  land  and  here  we  find 
the  re-enactment  of  the  scenes  of  the  first  settlement  of  the  ex- 
treme southern  portion  of  the  state. 

The  fertile  land  of  central  Illinois,  south  of  the  Sangamon 
river,  was  well  watered  and  also  well  timbered.  A  few  settlers 
had  found  their  way  here  before  the  Kickapoo  title  had  been  ex- 
tinguished by  the  Treaty  of  Edwardsville  in'  1819,  but  it  was  not 
until  the  decade  1821  to  1830  that  the  true  settlement  took  place. 
It  was  with  a  certain  degree  of  confidence  that  the  settlers  took 
possession  of  the  new  land,  for  they  were  comparatively  close 
to  the  strong  settlements  north  of  the  Kaskaskia  river  and  thus 
\|in  touch  with  the  rest  of  the  state. 

Here  a  sort  of  experimentation  began.  Between  the  tracts 
of  timber  land  were  inviting  stretches  of  prairie  upon  which, 
owing  to  the  proximity  to  the  timber,  the  sod  'was  not  so  tough 

'  nor  the  grass  so  long  as  it  was  on  the  large  prairies.  The  tran- 
sition from  woodsman  to  prairie  cultivator  on  a  small  scale  was 

.  here  made  easy.  The  cabin,  as  before,  was  built  at  the  edge 
of  the  timber,  if  water  was  convenient,  and  a  portion  of  the 
prairie  was  fenced.  The  friendly  timber  gave  shelter  from  the 
excessive  heat  of  summer  as  well  as  from  the  cold  prairie  winds 
of  winter;  and  moreover  it  furnished  a  refuge  for  stock  in 
summer  when  the  open  prairie  was  infested  by  myriads  of 
horse-flies.  The  open  prairie  saved  the  pioneer  an1  enormous 
amount  of  labor  generally  necessary  to  make  his  clearing  and 
he  soon  found  that  crops  grew  as  well  or  even  better  here  than 
on  cleared  land.  Success  was  then  assured  in  the  subjugation 
of  the  prairies,  providing  they  were  very  small  ones,  where 
every  man  could,  figuratively  speaking,  keep  his  back  to  the 

'  timber  and  his  attention  on  the  prairie. 

It  must  not,  however,  be  understood  that  the  settlers  went  im- 
mediately to  such  places  where  they  were  able  to  take  advantage 
of  both  prairie  and  woodland,  for  settlement  clung  closely  to  the 
woods  of  the  Illinois  river  and  its  tributaries  for  several  years. 

[38] 


POOLEY SETTLEMENT    OF    ILLINOIS,    1830-50  325 

Two  hundred  families  were  in  the  Sangamon  country  prior  to 
1820  and  of  these,  sixty  were  grouped  on  Macoupin,  Apple,  and 
Otter  creeks,  within  thirty  miles  of  the  Illinois  river.45  Cass, 
Morgan  and  Scott  counties,  lying  immediately  between  the 
Sangamon  and  Illinois  rivers,  had  only  twenty  families  in 
1820.46  Farther  east  along  the  Sangamon  were  a  few  scattered 
families  and  others  had  ventured  across  the  river  to  Macon 
county  by  1827. 

The  question  of  slavery  in  Illinois  having  been  settled 
in  1824,  immigration  set  in  with  renewed  vigor,  reaching 
its  greatest  development  in  1827  and  in  1828.47  The  set- 
tlers came  in  groups  of  five  or  ten  families  although  it  was 
no  uncommon  sight  to  see  one  hundred  wagons  in  a  single 
company  going  to  the  Sangamon  country.48  Steam  navigation 
had  begun  on  the  Illinois  river  in  1828  and  by  connecting  the 
frontier  'with  the  older  settlements  strengthened  the  former  to 
such  a  degree  that  from  these  younger  settlements  a  new  migra- 
tion soon  began  to  take  place.  The  extension  took  place  rapidly 
and  by  1830  the  timber  lands  of  the  Sangamon  were  densely 
enough  populated  to  warrant  the  erection  of  six  new  counties.49 
The  population  of  this  Sangamon  country  in  1830  was  42,385.50 
Of  these  twenty-eight  were  slaves.51 

Springfield,  at  first  called  Calhoun,  was  established  in  1819.52 
Although  it  was  perhaps  the  most  important  town  in  this  part 
of  the  state  in  1830  and  had  between  six  and  eight  hundred 
settlers,  it  was  still  characterized  as  "a  straggling  village."53 
Jacksonville  in  Morgan  county  was  about  the  same  size,  and  the 
other  settlements  were  of  less  importance.54 


45  Dana,  Sketches  of  the  Western  Country,  144. 
u  History  of  Cass  County,  18. 

47  History  of  Macon  County,  34. 
"Perrin,  History  of  Jefferson  County,  124. 

48  Greene,  Morgan,  Maeoupin,  Montgomery,  Macon  and  Shelby. 

80  Eleventh  Census,  (1890)  15. 

81  Nites'  Register,  43,  35. 

62  Barber  and  Howe,  History  of  the  Western  States,  1072. 

88  Stuart,  Three  Years  in  North  America,  2,  216-224. 

84  Carrollton,  in  Greene  County,  was  begun  In  1818  (History  of  Greene  County, 
328)  ;  Hillsboro,  in  Montgomery  County,  settled  in  1817  or  1818  (History  of 
Bond  and  Montgomery  Counties,  215)  ;  Decatur,  In  Macon  County,  was  settled 
in  the  early  twenties  (History  of  Macon  County,  31)  ;  Shelbyville,  in  Shelby 
County,  was  settled  in  1825  (History  of  Shelby  and  Moultrie  Counties,  42). 

[39] 


326  BULLETIN    OF    THE    UNIVERSITY    OF    WISCONSIN 

-- 

The  Military  Tract  which  comprised  all  the  territory  between 
the  Illinois  and  Mississippi  rivers  as  far  north  as  Rock  Island 
county,  had  been  allotted  by  the  Federal  government  to  the  vet- 
erans of  the  war  of  1812.55  Few  of  the  original  grantees  deemed 
the  land  of  sufficient'  value  to  repay  the  labor  of  settling  and 
cultivating  and  consequently  but  a  small  proportion  took  advan- 
tage of  the  opportunity  afforded  for  obtaining  farms.  Those 
who  lived  close  to  the  region,  however,  were  awake  to  the  value 
of  the  land,  and  many  settled  upon  it  as  "squatters"  without 
any  valid  title  save  that  of  occupation.  To  make  improvements 
under  the  existing  circumstances  was  a  venture  which  led  to 
doubtful  returns.  Often,  indeed,  when  the  pioneer  had  suc- 
ceeded in  making  his  clearing,  building  his  cabin  and  perhaps 
breaking  a  little  plot  of  prairie  land,  the  holder  of  the  original 
patent  would  appear  upon  the  scene  and  oust  him.  So  frequent 
was  this  procedure  that  it  soon  became  a  profitable  business  for 
a  certain  class  of  men  to  obtain  these  squatters'  claims  by  means 
of  forged  patents  and  it  gave  rise  to  much  trouble. 

The  process  of  settlement  in  this  part  of  the  state  was  iden- 
tical with  that  of  the  portions  already  studied.  The  two  great 
rivers  served  as  connecting  lines  with  the  older  settlements  of 
the  South  and  along  the  tributaries  we  find  the  first  settlers 
establishing  themselves.  Peoria,  the  oldest  town  in  this  part 
of  the  state  had  been  deserted  in  the  closing  years  of  the  eight- 
eenth century.  In  1813  Ft.  Clark  had  been  built  and  in  1819 
the  first  permanent  settlers  came  to  Peoria.56  In  1825  the 
county  was  organized  and  had  at  the  time  a  population  of 
1,236"  which  included  all  the  settlers  of  the  northern  part  of 
the  state. 

The  counties  at  the  southern  end  of  the  Tract  (Calhoun  and 
Pike)  are  broken  and  hilly  near  the  rivers.  Gilead  in  Calhoun 
county  and  Atlas  in  Pike  county  both  situated  in  the  timber 
within  convenient  distance  from  the  river  but  away  from  the  un- 
healthful  bottoms  were  the  only  villages  in  1830.  Along  the 
creeks  of  Schuyler  and  Brown  counties,  Kentuckians,  Virgin- 


53  History  of  Fulton  county,  191. 

**  History  of  Peoria  county,  273-274. 

*7  Ballance,  Peoria,  45. 

[40] 


POOLEY SETTLEMENT    OF    ILLINOIS,    1830-50  327 

ians,  Pennsylvanians,  Carolinians  and  Tennesseeans  settled  be- 
side men  from  Indiana,  Ohio,  Missouri  and  Illinois.  Lewi&ton 
and  Canton  in  Fulton  county  completed  the  list  of  settlements  of 
importance  on  the  eastern  side  of  the  Tract. 
.  Adams  county  was  the  most  populous  district  on  the  Mis- 
sissippi river  north  of  the  mouth  of  the  Illinois  and  Quincy  was 
the  largest  settlement.58  Venus  in  Hancock  county  was  the  only 
other  settlement  of  note  in  1830.  Few  settlers  had  gone  to 
the  interior.59 

In  all  there  were  about  13,000  people  in  the  Military  Tract 
in  183060  and  by  far  the  greater  percentage  were  close 
-to  the  great  rivers  forming  the  boundaries  of  the  district. 
In  character  the  population  was  the  same  as  that  of  the 
Sangamon  country,  for  the  settlements:  along  the  Illinois  river 
were  only  outgrowths  of  the  older  Sangamon  settlements.  The 
Kentuckians  and  Tennesseeans  appeared  frequently  as  in  south- 
ern Illinois  taking  possession  of  the  timberlands  and  leading  a 
half-hunter,  half-farmer  life.  New  Englanders  and  men  from 
the  Middle  States,  however,  were  much  more  numerous  than  in 
other  parts  of  the  state. 

At  the  lead  mines  in  the  extreme  northwestern  part  of  Jll- 
i»ois  an  exceptional  settlement  had  already  begun  to  form. 
Lead  had  been  found  years  before  in  the  hilly  region  near  the 
Mississippi  and  after  1818  a  steady  stream  of  adventurers 
flowed  here.  Southerners  came  in  great  numbers  owing  to  the 
convenient  line  of  communication.  By  1830  there  were  over 
2,000  settlers  at, the  Illinois  mines  and  many  more  at  the  Wis- 
consin and  Iowa  mines.61 

The  primary  object  of  this  settlement  was  not  to  find  suitable 
farming  lands  well-supplied  with  timber  and  water.  It  was  to 


M  In  1825  there  were  forty  votes  cast  at  a  county  election  (History  of  Adams 
county,  262)  ;  in  1830  the  population  was  2,186.  (Eleventh  Census  [1890]  14)  ; 
the  population  of  Quincy  was  estimated  at  two  hundred  in  1830  (Asbury, 
Quincy,  41). 

89  Warren,  Mercer,  Henderson,  Knox  and  Bureau  counties  had  a  combined  popu- 
lation of  less  than  six  hundred  and  fifty.  (Eleventh  Census  [1890]  14.) 

80  lUd. 

"  Ibid. 


[41] 


-328  BULLETIN-    OF    THE    UNIVERSITY    OF    WISCONSIN 

take  advantage  of  the  mineral  deposits.  Timber  and  water 
were  found  in  abundance,  and  also  an  excellent  line  of  trans- 
portation but  these  things  were  of  secondary  importance  and 
had  the  mines  been  found  on  the  open  prairie  it  is  highly  prob- 
able that  the  settlement  would  have  sprung  up  as  rapidly  as  it 
did  under  the  existing  conditions. 

Chicago  as  yet  showed  no  signs  of  its  coming  greatness.  Lake 
navigation  by  steam  had  not  yet  begun,  nor  had  the  settlers  of 
Illinois  approached  near  enough  to  Lake  Michigan  to  look  to 
Chicago  for  a  market  or  a  supply  depot.  The  population  of  the 
little  village  did  not  number  more  than  one  hundred.62 

The  population  of  the  entire  state  in  1830  numbered  157,500 
people.63  The  population  map  for  1830  shows  a  nicely  rounded 
line  of  settlement  which  leads  an  unquestioning  observer  to  be- 
lieve that  the  advance  of  the  frontier  took  place  with  mathemati- 
cal precision.  Closer  study  will  reveal  a  different  state  of 
affairs.  Along  the  Ohio  river  and  its  numerous  tributaries  on 
the  eastern  side  of  the  state  was  a  comparatively  densely  settled 
area,  Between  the  projecting  ribbons  of  settlement  which  lined 
the  streams  were  the  prairies  as  yet  hardly  occupied.  The 
same  is  true  of  the  western  side  of  the  state  along  the  Mississippi. 
The  Illinois  river  furnished  the  road  to  central  and  northern 
Illinois.64 

The  pioneer  of  the  Illinois  frontier  was  still  of  the  hunter 
type.  He  was  primarily  a  woodsman1  who  had  come  to  the  new 
country  with  his  rifle,  axe  and  hunting  knife  prepared  to  at- 
tack the  problem  of  the  frontier  in  the  same  way  his  ancestors 
had  attacked  it  in  Kentucky  and  Tennessee  generations  before. 
He  changed  little  before  1830,  for  his  cautious  contact  with  the 
small  prairies  of  the  South  gave  him  little  real  capital  with 
which  to  attack  the  broader  expanses  of  the  North.  Practically 
shut  off  from  the  prairie,  he  followed  the  woodlands  until  the 
outbreak  of  the  Black  Hawk  War  in  1832,  which  date  marks 


42  Chicago  Tribune,  April  12,  1875. 
« Eleventh  Cemus,  (1890)  14. 

84  The  census  maps  use  the  county  as  the  unit,  and  therefore  exhibit  as  settled 
many  areas  really  vacant. 


[42] 


POOLEY SETTLEMENT    OF    ILLINOIS,    1830-50  329 

the  beginning  of  a  sudden  and  sharp  transition  in  pioneer 
characteristics.  Before  1832  the  settlement  of  the  state  was 
only  a  continuation  of  pioneer  days  in  the  older  states.  Now 
a  new  problem  confronted  the  tide  of  pioneers  who  were  crossing 
the  continent.  On  the  wide  treeless  expanses  of  eastern  and 
northern  Illinois  were  to  be  solved  the  problems  which  gave 
rise  to  a  new  class  of  frontiersmen — the  prairie  pioneers. 


[43] 


330  BULLETIN    OF    THE    UNIVERSITY    OF    WISCONSIN 


CAUSES  FOB  THE  SETTLEMENT  OF  ILLINOIS 


The  Americans  as  a  people  are  prone  to  migrate.  'From  the 
earliest  date  at  which  the  settlements  scattered  along  the  shores 
of  the  Atlantic  ocean  were  ahle  to  push  their  limits  one  mile 
up  the  rivers  towards  the  back  country  the  gradual  movement 
to  the  West  has  appropriated  the  land  step  by  step  until  the 
entire  expanse  from  coast  to  coast  has  been  brought  under  the 
direct  control  of  the  race. 

The  census  of  1850  shows  that  of  17,737,000  free  inhabitants 
in  the  United  States  at  that  date  over  4,100,000  or  twenty  three 
per  cent,  had  migrated  from  the  states  of  their  birth.1 

A  general  law  concerning  the  order  of  classes  seems  to  have 
been  followed  in  this  movement  of  settlement  to  the  West,  es- 
pecially before  transportation  by  steam  lent  its  enormous  in- 
fluence towards  the  development  of  the  great  West.  First  came 
the  hunter-pioneer ;  next,  the  small  farmer  who  drove  the  hunter 
farther  toward  the  frontier  and  who  himself  gave  way  in1  time 
to  the  third  class  of  settlers,  the  larger  farmers  whose  aim  was 
to  improve  the  land,  erect  homes  and  become  the  permanent  oc- 
cupants of  the  country. 

The  causes  leading  to  this  movement  towards  the  West  are  of 
two  classes;  general  causes  affecting  the  entire  nation,  and 
special  causes  affecting  localities  at  various  times  and  in  vary- 
ing degrees.  .  The  general  causes  may  be  grouped  under  three 
heads:  the  restless  spirit  pervading  all  classes,  the  systems  of. 
internal  improvements  developed  during  the  period,  and  th6 
financial  causes. 


1  Abstract  of  the  Seventh  Census,  (1850)  15. 

[44] 


POOLEY SETTLEMENT    OF    ILLINOIS,    1830-50  331 

The  resilega_spirit  which  ever  aimed  towards  expansion  and 
economic  betterment  is  the  great  one  among  the  general  causes; 
its  growth  was  the  result  of  a  combination  of  local  causes  and 
of  general  causes  which  operated  constantly  throughout  the 
period.  Dissatisfaction  with  existing  conditions  was  prevalent 
among  all  classes.  Moreover,  it  was  believed  that  these  con- 
ditions could  be  improved  in  the  new  country  where  land  was 
cheap  and  fertile  and  could  be  acquired  and  turned  into  fruit- 
ful farms1  'with  a  reasonable  effort  upon  the  part  of  the  settler. 

There  were  in  every  community,  citizens  who  had  lost  their 
credit  and  of  necessity  needed  new  homes.  In  the  woodlands 
these  people  became  solitary  pioneers  who  felt  most  at  ease 
when  "twenty  miles  from  law  and  calomel')  and  who  breathed 
easiest  when  the  nearest  neighbors  were  ten  miles  away.  The 
farm  laborers  who,  dissatisfied  with  the  existing  scale  of  wages  ' 
in  the  older  communities  and  understanding  the  science  of 
agriculture  well  enough  to  manage  and  work  farms  of  their 
own,  moved  to  the  frontier,  took  up  government  lands  and  laid 
the  foundations  of  new  settlements  beyond  the  limits  of  civil- 
ization. These  became  the  small  farmers  who  moved  along  in 
the  wake  of  the  hunter-pioneers. 

To  a  considerable  degree  the  farmers  in  the  "West  were  in- 
fluenced by  comparative  land  values.  The  available  lands  hi 
the  East  were  mostly  cultivated  and  brought  high  prices.  The 
small  farmer  had  not  the  means  with  which  to  buy  out  his 
neighbor  should  the  latter  desire  to  sell.  In  the  "West  vast 
stretches  of  land  were  offered  for  sale  by  the  government  at  low 
prices  and  consequently  there  was  a  desire  among  the  eastern 
farmers  to  take  advantage  of  the  opportunity  offered  and  by 
disposing  of  their  small  but  high  priced  farms  to  those  able  and 
willing  to  buy,  they  could  take  up  larger  and  more  fertile  farms 
in-  the  western  country. 

In  earlier  years  the  history  of  public  lands  is  that  of  large 
companies.  Later,  by  successive  changes  in  the  administration 
of  such  lands  the  prices  and  quantities  were  placed  within  the 
reach  of  the  smaller  purchaser.  "When  in  1820  the  price  was 
reduced  to  a  dollar  and  a  quarter  per  acre  and  land  was  sold  in 
lots  as  small  as  eighty  acres,  the  incentive  for  the  migration 

[45] 


332  BULLETIN    OF    THE 

westward  was  increased.  The  effect  is  seen  wh4lfe  notice  the 
Foote  resolution  introduced  into  the  House  in  Jlcember,  1829, 
asking  that  an  inquiry  be  made  concerning  the  advisability  of 
the  rapid  sale  of  the  public  lands.  The  significance  of  this  lies 
in  the  fact  that  the  rapid  sale  of  public  lands  at  low  prices  was 
draining  the  East  of  its  laboring  class  and  acting  as  a  detriment 
to  the  industrial  enterprises  which  the  eastern  men  were  at 
that  time  attempting  to  foster. 

Again  in  1834  when  the  question  of  ceding  the  public  lands  to 
the  states  in  which  they  were  situated  was  reported  upon  by 
Henry  Clay,  the  committee  stated  that  it  was  not  of  the  opin- 
ion that  the  cession  should  take  place,  or  the  price  of  land  be 
reduced,  giving  among  other  reasons  that  such  a  procedure 
would  operate  as  a  bounty  to  increase  emigration  from  the 
older  states,  lessening  the  value  of  the  eastern  lands  and  drain- 
ing them  of  currency  and  population.2 

To  intensify  the  feeling  of  restlessness  and  dissatisfaction 
already  existing,  another  influence  was  brought  to  bear  on  those 
who  remained  at  home,  by  the  people  who  had  dared  the.  pri- 
vations of  the  frontier.  Letters  from  successful  pioneers  painted, 

•  in  bright  colors1,  the  wonderful  opportunities  of  the  West ;  com- 
panies, formed  with  the  idea  of  taking  up  land  and  speculating 
in  it,  sent  hundreds  of  thousands  of  circulars  to  the  East,  worded 
in  such  a>way  that  their  readers  felt  that  the  time  for  the  rapid 
accumulation  of  wealth  was  at  hand,  and  thousands  hastened  to 
take  advantage  of  the  golden  opportunities.  Newspapers,  in 
some  regions,  aided  in  the  work,  pointing  out  the  advantages 
to  be  derived  by  farmers,  and  especially  laboring  men  with  a 
small  amount  of  capital,  should  they  but  move  to  the  West.3 
Moreover,  the  effect  of  western  competition  in  agricultural  pro- 
ducts was  pointed  out  and  it  was  shown  that  before  the  lapse 
of  any  great  period  of  time  the  rapidly  growing  West  would 
undersell  the  East  in  its  own  market. 

Rivalry  among  the  great  eastern  cities  for  western  trade 
gave  a  cause  for  migration.  The  internal  improvement  systems 
developed  by  the  efforts  of  the  various  states  in  the  attempt  to 


2  Senate  Documents,  323,  23  Congress,  I  Sess.,  24. 

3  Buffalo  Commercial  Advertiser,  Mar.  24,  1846. 

[46] 


POOLEY S^BfcMENT    OF    ILLINOIS,    1830-50  333 


benefit  theii^BBps  afforded,  when  completed,  an  easy  access  to 
the  "West.  Tlie dissatisfied  settlers,  who  hitherto  had  needed  only 
some  such  stimulant  to  start  him  to  the  new  country  now  took 
advantage  of  the  opportunity  presented  by  a  comparatively  easy 
journey  westward.  Others  who  were  making  a  comfortable 
living  on  their  farms  decided  to  remain  at  home  but  the  new 
lines  of  communication  influenced  these  people  in  another  way. 
The  West  was  growing  and  its  farms  produced  ever  increasing 
amounts  of  grain.  Home  markets  could  not  consume  the  supply,. 
»o  the  products  were  turned  eastward  through  these  lines  of 
communication  and  brought  into  competition  with  the  produce 
of  the  eastern  farm.  Prices  fell  and  the  man  who  had  remained 
at  home  could  no  Ipnger  make  his  comfortable  living  and  was. 
compelled  either  to  lower  his  standard  of  comfort  or  to  move  to 
the  West  where  it  could  be  maintained. 

If  a  system  of  roads  produced  a  noticeable  effect  upon  the 
volume  of  migration  westward,,  the  introduction  of  steam  navi- 
gation had  a  still  more  marked  influence.  The  inconveniences 
of  travel  were  diminished  and  the  cost  of  transportation  de- 
creased by  the  steamboats  of  the  Ohio  river  and  the  Great  Lakes 
which  soon  became  the  means  of  travel  of  an  ever-increasing 
number  of  immigrants.  The  importance  of  steam  navigation  in 
aiding  in  the  development  of  the  West  may  be  best  illustrated  __ 
by  a  quotation.  ' '  Of  all  the  elements  of  prosperity  of  the  West — 
of  all  the  causes  of  its  rapid  increase  in  population,  its  growth 
in  wealth,  resources  and  the  improvement  of  its  immense  com- 
merce and  gigantic  energies,  the  most  efficient  has  been  the  navi- 
gation by  steam."4 

Third  in  the  list  of  general  causes  was  the  financial  depres- 
sion which  swept  over  the  country  in  the  closing  years  of  the 
decade  1831-1840.5  The  panic  can  be  attributed  to  no  one 
thing.  Prominent  among  the  causes  was  over-speculation. 
Suddenly  the  people  of  the  East  saw  that  there  were  fortunes 
to  be  made  in  western  lands  and  no  sooner  was  the  discovery 


*  Memorial  of  the  People  of  Cincinnati  (1844),  28. 

5  See,  Bourne,  The  Distribution  of  the  Surplus ;  Dewey,  Financial  History,  Ch. 
X ;  Schurz,  Henry  Clay,  2.,  Ch.  XIX ;  Scott,  Repudiation  of  State  Debts;  Shep- 
hard,  Martin  Van  Buren,  Ch.  VIII. 

[47] 


334  BULLETIN    OF    THE    UNIVERSITY    OF    WISCONSIN 

made  than  the  price  of  town  lots,  either  real  or  imaginary,  went 
up  to  enormous  prices.  "Wherever  the  surveyor  took  the  magic 
chain  and  compass — no  matter  how  remote  from  population — 
there  it  became  certain  that  a  mighty  city  would,  at  no  distant 
day,  arise."6  Walls  of  buildings  in  the  various  cities  were 
covered  with  maps  of  towns  that  were  still  miles  in  the  woods 
or  feet  under  water.  Hundreds  of  acres  of  land  which  were 
valued  at  prices  ranging  from  one  hundred  to  one  thousand 
dollars  have  not  yet  reached  the  value  at  which  they  were  sold 
and  resold  during  these  months  of  frenzied  speculation. 

Farmers,  traders  and  capitalists  were,  however,  not  the  only 
classes  to  become  involved  in  the  general  upheaval  during  the 
closing  years  of  the  thirties.  As  a  result  of  the  increase  of 
speculation  there  was  a  movement  among  the  laboring  class, 
and  a  general  demand  for  an  increase  of  wages,  to  correspond 
with  the  increase  in  prices.  To  attain  this  end,  combined  ef- 
forts on  the  part  of  laboring  men  were  necessary  and  a  tend- 
ency towards  the  federation  of  labor  became  distinctly  marked. 
Trade  unions  were  formed,  and  before  1840,  ship  carpenters, 
joiners,  house  carpenters,  painters,  roofers,  brick-layers,  tailors 
hatters,  harness-makers,  shoe-makers,  masons,  factory  operatives, 
and  others  had  organized  unions.7 

The  upward  movement  of  prices  was  such  that  the  average 
cost  of  a  workman's  living  was  twenty-one  per  cent,  greater  in 
July.  1835  than  it  was-  in  April,  1834  and  sixty-four  per  cent, 
greater  in  October,  1836  than  in  1834.8  Higher  wages  and  the 
"ten-hour"  day  were  the  demands.  Immediate  concessions 
were  the  only  remedy  and  when  these  were  not  obtainable,  strikes 
followed.  From  1834  to  1837  the  cities  of  Philadelphia,  Boston, 
Hartford,  Trenton,  Washington,  Natchez,  St.  Louis,  Cincinnati 
and  Louisville  all  experienced  labor  troubles  culminating  in 
strikes,  showing  the  wide-spread  influence  of  the  movement.9 

The  days  of  the  greatest  monetary  inflation  saw  the  wages 
of  the  laborers  increased  to  a  considerable  extent,  and  quietude 
ruled  for  a  time.  The  revulsion  came  in  1837.  Employers  at 


«  Balestler,  Annals  of  Chicago,  25,  in  Fergus  Historical  Series.  1. 
T  Yale  Review,  1,  87. 
8  Ibid.,  1,  94. 
•  Ibid.,  1,  98. 


[48] 


POOLEY SETTLEMENT    OF    ILLINOIS,    1830-50  335 

first  reduced  the  number  of  hours  each  laborer  should  work  art'd 
upon  finding  this  of  no  avail,  reduced  the  wages  of  the  laborers. 
With  the  fall  in  labor  prices  there  came  no  corresponding  fall 
in  prices  of  commodities.  The  army  of  the  unemployed  grew 
rapidly  and  in  September  of  1837  the  New  York  Era  says  "We 
can  state  on  the  best  authority  that  in  the  eastern1  states  nine- 
tenths  of  the  factories  have  been  stopped  and  the  same  propor- 
tion of  men,  women  and  children  thrown  out  of  employment."10 
Resulting  from  this  change  in  the  condition  of  the  laborers, 
meetings  of  a  more  or  less  riotous  nature  occurred  in  various 
cities,  but  the  most  notable  consequence  was  the  unusual  iin- 
migrallon  to_Jhe  West,11  for  these  people,  lacking  the  means 
for  support  in  their  native  cities,  took  up  the  heritage,  of  the 
poor  man,  cheap  lands  in  a  new  country. 

To  the  causes  which  operated  throughout  the  entire  land,  local 
causes  must  be  added  if  we  are  to  understand  the  reasons  for 
the  increase  and  decrease  in  the  volume  of  the  westward  move- 
ment. In  New_ England  there  was  a  never  ceasing  desire  "to 
see  how  things  went  in  other  parts;"  a  desire  to  find  a  land  i 
which  offered  better  advantages  for  accumulating  wealth  than 
were  found  at  home  and  as  a  consequence  we  find  Yankees 
everywhere.  They  moved  up  the  river  valleys  of  their  native 
states  into  the  newer  regions  of  northern  Neiw  England;  next, 
they  settled  western  New  York  and  later  moved  westward  into 
Michigan,  Wisconsin,  Illinois  and  Iowa.  They  found  their  way 
to  the  southern  states  and  even  to  the  West  Indies.12 

The  surface  of  New  England,  much  broken  by  hills  and  rocky 
ledges,  while  it  does  not  afford  the  best  facilities  for  agricul- 
ture on  a  large  sx;ale,  offers  opportunities  for  small  farming. 
The  common  grains — rye,  corn,  and  buckwheat,  together  with, 
potatoes  and  garden  vegetables,  were  produced  along  the  hill- 
sides and  in  the  valleys  with  considerable  success.13.  Wheat 
growing  was  never  a  source  of  wrealth  to  the  New  England 


10  The  New  York  Era,  Sept.  5,  1837. 

11  Yale  Review,  1,  99. 
12NHes'  Register,  5»,  224. 

13  Hunt's  Merchants'  Magazine,  5,  201. 


[49j 


336  BULLETIN    OF    THE    UNIVERSITY    OF    WISCONSIN 

farmer14  and  of  the  other  products  little  more  than  home  sup- 
plies were  produced. 

The  farms  were  small,  generally  from  fifty  to  two  hundred 
acres,  divided  into  fields  disproportionately  small;  sometimes 
fifteen  or  twenty  fields  making  a  single  farm.15  The  imple- 
ments of  husbandry  were  simple  and  did  not  afford  the  best 
*  results.  By  1830  all  the  available  lowlands  were  taken  up  and 
the  hillsides  were  being  used,  especially  in  Vermont.  The  ris- 
ing generation  of  young  men  finding  how  difficult  it  was  to 
support  themselves  on  one  hundred  acres  or  less,  turned  their 
eyes  to  the  West. 

If  wheat  could  not  be  cultivated  with  advantage,  and  if  the 
narrow  valleys  did  not  afford  support  for  a  numerous  agricul- 
tural class,  there  was  an  industry  which  would  flourish,  but 
unfortunately  it,  too,  tended  pratically  to  diminish  the  amount 
of  cultivated  land.  The  wool  industry  had  received  a  greatm 
impetus  when  the  Merino  sheep  was  introduced.  "The  provi-1 
dential  acquisition  of  this  inestimable  animal"  says  a  New 
England  paper  "is  in  every  point  of  view  worthy  the  attention  of 
all  classes  of  citizens,  especially  farmers.  The  golden  fleece 
of  the  Merino  sheep  presents  to  every  prudent  and  thrifty 
farmer  a  mine  of  wealth  from  which  he  may  draw  to  his  in- 
dustry, economy  and  the  extent  of  his  means."16 

The  value  of  the  industry  to  the  investor  had  been  further 
enhanced  by  the  protective  tariffs  of  1824  and  1828,  the  greatly 
increased  foreign  demand  and  the  competition  among  the  wool 
dealers  at  home.  The  average  price  of  wool  in  Vermont  for 
the  decade  1831-1840  was  fifty-two  cents  a  pound.17  After 
1839  a  gradual  decline  took  place.18  Farmers  interested  in 
varied  agriculture  had  been  unusually  unsuccessful,  especially 
with  their  wheat  crops  from  1824  to  183710  and  many  looking 
for  better  fields  of  industry  turned  to  sheep  raising.  In  western 


4  The  yew  Englander,  52,  338. 

5  Atlantic  Monthly,  26,  333. 

«  Boston  Patriot,  Oct.  3,  1810. 

7  House  Misc.  Document,  105,  52  Cong.,  2  Sess.,  319.     Trices  sometimes  rose 
to  ninety  cents  per  pound  (files'  Register,  4O,  292). 
*Nilel8'  Register,  72,  331. 
"Goodhue,  History  of  Shorcham  (Vt),  59. 

[50] 


POOLEY SETTLEMENT    OF    ILLINOIS,    1830-50 


337 


Massachusetts,  in  the  Berkshire  Hills,  and  in  hill  towns  of  the 
Connecticut  valley  wool  growing  was  one  of  the  most  lucrative 
pursuits.20  Factories  continued  to  spring  up  to  increase  the 
demand  for  wool.21 

Sheep  farming,  to  be  conducted  with  the  greatest  profit,  re- 
quires more  extended  tracts  of  land  than  do  the  other  agri- 
cultural pursuits,  so  the  demand  for  desirable  land  in  New 
England  grew  rapidly  as  did  the  prices  paid  for  it.  Wealthy 
men  found  paying  investments  by  buying  the  land  of  the  small 
farmer,  even  at  advanced  prices.  Sales  were  practically  com- 
pelled for  the  poor  man  was  offered  prices  he  could  not  afford 
to  refuse. 

The  crisis  of  1837  and  a  crop  failure  in  the  same  year  brought 
economic  distress  to  New  England  and  helped  to  swell  the  num- 
bers migrating.  A  decline  in  the  price  of  wool  followed  and 
although  the  tariff  act  of  1842  acted  for  a  time  as  a  stimulus 
to  the  manufacture  of  wool,  it  did  not  remain  in  operation  long 
enough  to  make  clear  what  its  permanent  effect  would  have 
been.22  Here,  it  appears,  began  the  decline  from  which  the 
sheep  farming  industry  did  not  recover.23 

About  this  time  the  farmers  became  interested  in  dairy  farm- 
ing and~~whenr  the  -railroads  of  the  forties  increased  the  value 
of  dairy  products  by  opening  up  the  markets  in  the  cities  many 

20  Howe  Misc.  Doc.  105,  52  Cong.,  2  Sess.,  239';  Niles'  Register,  49,  68. 

21  In   1832  the  value  of  woollens  in  Mass,   amounted   to  $6,500,000 ;   in  1837 
they   were    valued    at    $10,400,000.     There    were   nearly    two    hundred    mills    in 
operation  manufacturing  over  11,300,000  yards  of  cloth  yearly.     (Eighth  Census 
(I860),  xxxii.) 

^Taussig,  Tariff  History,  144,  cf.  Eighth  Census  (1860),  xxxii. 
23  House  Misc.  Doc.  105,  52  Cong.,  2  Sess.,  343,  gives  the  following  statistics 
concerning  sheep  and  wool : 


Wool  (Ibs.  produced) 

Sheep  (number) 

1840 

1850 

1840 

1850 

Maine    

1,465,551 
1,260,517 
3,699,235 

941,906 
183,830 
839,870 

1,364,034 
1,108,476 
3,400,717 
585,136 
129,692 
477,454 

649,264 

617,390 
1,681,819 
378,266 
90,146 
403,462 

451,577 
384,758 
1,014,123! 
188,651 
44,396 
174,181 

New  Hampshire  

Vermont    

Massachusetts    

Rhode  Island   

Connecticut    

Total     

8,440,909 

7,085,509 

3,820,307 

2,2i57,563 

[51] 


338  BULLETIN"    OF    THE    UNIVERSITY    OF    WISCONSIN 

gave  up  wool-growing  for  dairying.  The  effect  upon  the  sup- 
ply of  land  was  the  same  as  before. 

It  appears  that  these  causes  combined  to  decrease  the  agri- 
cultural population  of  New  England,  if  relative  amounts  of 
/products  may  be  taken  as  a  basis  for  comparison.24  The  pro- 
ductions of  wool,  wheat,  oats  and  rye  had  decreased  in  vary- 
ing degrees  in  most  of  the  states1.25  The  cultivation  of  corn  had 
increased.  The  number  of  cattle  had  increased  in  Maine  and 
Rhode  Island  but  in  all  other  states  had  decreased  as  had  the 
number  of  horses,  sheep  and  hogs. 

The  decrease  of  the  agricultural  class  can  be  accounted  for  in 
two  ways;  these  farmers  either  moved  to  the  cities  or  to  the 
"West.  During  the  decade  1831-1840  when  the  sheep  indus- 
try had  reached  its  height  and  the  rapidly  developing  cattle 
industry  was  claiming  the  New  England  lands,  many  of  the 
small  farmers  preferred  to  go  into  the  less  populous  states  of 
Maine  and  New  Hampshire.  In  these  states  land  was  not  costly 
and  upon  the  whole  was  good  for  cattle  and  sheep  farming  in: 
spite  of  the  severe  winters  experienced  there.  By  1840,  how- 
ever, there  were  no  longer  extensive  new  areas  in  New  England 
and  again  a  change  came  in  the  direction  of  the  tide  of  emi- 
gration. 

The  industrial  life  of  the  New  England  people  was  altered  at 
this  time  and  for  a  while  -at  least  this  seems  to  have  stayed  the 
flow  from  this  section.  With  the  decline  of  agriculture  there 
came  an  increased  activity  along  manufacturing  lines.  Dur- 
ing the  decade  of  1841-1850  manufactures  almost  doubled  in 
value,  giving  employment  to  an  increased  number  of  hands.  By 
1850  over  298,000  people  were  employed  and  $158,000,000  were 
invested  in  the  factories  of  New  England.  Massachusetts  alone 
had  in  1850  manufacturing  industries  valued  at  $83,360,000 
which  almost  equaled  the  amount  invested  by  all  the  New  Eng- 
land states  at  the  opening  of  the  decade.28 


24  A  change  of  methods  in  the  censuses  of  1840  and  1850  will  not  allow  con- 
clusions to  be  drawn  from  a  comparison  of  figures  denoting  inhabitants  engaged 
in  agriculture. 

25  Rhode  Island  showed  an  increase  in  the  amount  of  oats :  Vermont,  of  wheat. 
"Compendium  of  the  Seventh  Census  (1850),  179;  Compendium  of  the  Sixth 

•Census  (1840),  111-127. 

[52] 


POOLEY SETTLEMENT    OF    ILLINOIS,,    1830-50  339 

It  is  reasonable  to  believe  that  the  class  turned  from  agri- 
culture would  attempt  to  gain  a  livelihood  by  taking  advantage 
of  the  opportunities  manufacturing  offered.  At  this  point, 
however,  a  new  influence  acted  to  turn  the  New  Englander 
westward.  Foreign  immigrants  were  landing  on  our  shores  in 
constantly  increasing  numbers  and  many  of  these  people 
remained  to  seek  employment  in  the  eastern  cities.27  These  for- 
eigners furnished  a  large  percentage  of  the  laboring  class  of 
the  factories  and  by  beating  down  wages  compelled  their  Ameri- 
can competitors  to  withdraw.  The  New  Englanders,  moreover, 
did  not  care  to  be  associated  with  the  foreign  workmen  and 
hence  social  as  well  as  economic  influences  operated  to  hurry 
great  numbers  of  these  New  England  people  westward  over 
the  Great  Lakes  again  to  become  farmers  on  the  prairies  of  the 
Middle  West. 

In  the  Middle  Atlantic  states  conditions  also  favored  emi- 
gration. "Hard  times"  was  the  complaint  of  farmers,  manu- 
facturers and  laborers  in  New  York  and  Pennsylvania.  Num- 
erous memorials  to  Congress  came  from  New  Yorkers  in  1834 
asking  that  body  to  make  some  attempt  to  alleviate  the  distress 
prevalent  throughout  the  state.  From  Albany  came  the  com-  / 
plain  of  a  lost  market  and  a  great  cut  in  the  wages  of  the  labor-/ 
ing  men  ;28  from  Rochester  came  the  news  that  the  flouring  mills 
had  closed  on  account  of  the  instability  of  money  ;29  from  Otsego 
county  a  memorial  was  presented  saying  that  the  merchants 
could  not  collect  their  accounts;  that  mechanics  could  find  no 
employment ;  that  real  estate  was  on  the  decline  and  loans  could 
no  longer  be  obtained;  that  manufacturing  interests  could  not 
continue  to  operate  to  any  advantage  and  that  commercial  con- 
fidence was  fast  being  lost  and  general  stagnation  of  business 
threatened.30  From  Ontario  county,  an  agricultural  district, 
came  the  report  that  produce  had  fallen  in  value  from  twenty- 
five  to  thirty-three  per  cent.31  Like  conditions  prevailed  in 


27McLaughlin  in  Popular  Science  Monthly,  July,  1904;  The  Nation,  May  27, 
1869. 

28  Senate  Debates,  23  Cong.,  1  Sess.,  1179. 
297b«7.,  23  Cong.,  1  Sess.,  1722. 
80  IMd.,  23  Cong.,  1  Sess.,  1780. 
31  Ibid.,  23  Cong.,  1   Sess.,  1473. 

[53] 


340  BULLETIN    OF    THE    UNIVERSITY    OF    WISCONSIN 

Pennsylvania.  From  Lancaster,32  Murray,33  Montgomery,34 
York,35  Mifflin,36  Union,37  and  other  counties  came  memorials  to 
Congress  during  the  year  1834. 

Among  the  laboring  classes  uneasiness  was  evident  but  in  the 
period  of  speculation  and  of  inflated  wages  and  values  during 
the  years  immediately  preceding  1837,  the  wage  earners  seemed 
content.  When  wages  began  to  decline,  however,  and  the  prices 
of  living  did  not  decrease  in  a  like  proportion,  labor  troubles 
followed  in- the  larger  cities.  An  example  of  this  is  the  'flour 
riot'  in  New  York  in  1837. 3S  Rents  remained  high  as  did  prices 
of  commodities.  Labor  was  in  over-supply  and  the  crowd  seek- 
ing employment  in  the  cities  seemed  constantly  to  increase.  A 
paper  of  the  time  commenting  upon  this  increase  attributed 
it  to  the  fact  that  the  facilities  for  securing  good  educations 
were  so  liberal  and  so  generally  accepted  throughout  the  state — 
New  York —  and  that  whenever  the  younger  sons  of  the  farmers 
were  qualified  to  engage  in  commercial  pursuits  they  almost  in- 
variably hastened  to  the  cities  in  search  of  employment,  there- 
by diminishing  thei  agricultural  class  and  increasing  the  labor- 
ing class  to  the  detriment  of  both.39  Laborers'  wages  decreased 
and  by  1840  the  decrease  ranged  from  twenty-five  to  thirty- 
three  per  cent.40  and  conditions  seemed  not  likely  to  improve. 
Newspapers  discussed  the  situation  and  some  did  not  hesitate 
to  advise  every  class  of  laborers  to  embrace  the  first  opportun- 
ity offered  for  emigrating  to  the  West.41 

Conditions  seemed  equally  unfavorable  for  the  farming  class 
and  a  decrease  of  the  agricultural  population  took  place  in  many 
of  the  New  York  counties.  In  Dutchess  county  from  1830  to 
1835  there  was  a  decrease  in  the  population  which  would  have 
been  more  marked  had  not  the  towns  of  Poughkeepsie  and 


32 /bid.,  23  Con.,  1  Sess.,  825. 

KIbid.,  23  Cong.,  1  Sess.,  1187. 

"Ibid.,  23  Cong.,  1  Sess.,  1803. 

88  House  Debates.,  23  Cong.,  1  Sess.,  4188. 

86  Ibid.,  23  Cong.,  1  Sess.,  4039. 

87  IUd.,  23  Cong.,  1  Sess.,  3642. 

88  Panics  in  the  United  States,  20. 

*>  Wisconsin  Enquirer,  June  25,  1842  (from  the  Albany  Daily  Advertiser). 
*u  Hazard.  United  States  Commercial  and  Statistical  Register,  May  6,   1840. 
«  The  New  Yorker,  April  22,  1837 ;  July  21,  1838. 

[54] 


POOLEY SETTLEMENT    OF    ILLINOIS,    1830-50  341 

Fishkill  each  added  considerable  numbers  to  their  population 
through  the  development  of  manufactures.  The  decrease  was 
attributed  to  "emigration  to  the  West"42  In  Columbia  county 
the  hard  times  of  1837  and  1838  were  felt  and  the  effects  were 
noticeable  in  the  unusual  number  of  business  and  dwelling 
houses  offered  for  sale.43  Likewise  in  Chautauqua,  Chenango, 
Genesee,  Ontario,  Scheneetady  and  Otsego  counties  either  a  de- 
crease was  noticeable  during  the  years  following  1837  or  the  in- 
creases were  very  small  and  these  due  not  to  agricultural  but 
to  urban  development.44  In  the  case  of  Chautauqua  county, 
especially,  there  had  been,  since  1835,  a  steady  decline.45 

This  decrease  was  not  a  local  thing  as  the  Commercial  Ad- 
vertiser46 shows,  for  in  1840  in  more  than  two  hundred  towns 
of  the  state  there  were  fewer  farmers  than  in  1835,  due  to  the 
fact,  the  writer  of  the  article  shows,  that  it  cost  more  labor  than 
formerly  to  produce  agricultural  products.  "Unless  a  more 
systematic  form  of  husbandry  be  adopted"  says  thrj  writer, 
"the  farms  of  this  state  will  not  exceed  in  price  the  worn-out 
lands  of  Maryland  and  Virginia."  Legislative  aid  was  neces- 
sary but  was  slow  in  coming.  Competition  by  western  produce 
became  yearly  a  more  potent  faster  in  driving  down  prices; 
concentration— of  property  and  rapid  increase  of  mortgaged 
lands  each  lent  its  aid  to  increase  the  existing  dissatisfaction 
with  the  economic  situation  and  consequently  to  aid  the  move- 
ment westward. 

To  competition,  a  considerable  part  of  the  westward  emigra- 
tion  may  be  attributed  and  for  the  cause  of  this  rapid  increase 

If    competition    we    must   look    to    the    Erie_  canal.  /While 
he  canal  was  a  work  as  general  in  its  character  as  any  under- 
taking of  the  kind  could  well  be,  it  exercised  a  negative  influence 
upon  the  welfare  of  farmers  living  beyond  a  distance  of  twenty- 
five  or  thirty  miles  from  it,  and  was  the  means  of  retarding  the 


42  Niles'  Register,  49,  226. 

48  History  of  Columbia  County  (N.  Y.)  1,  329. 

44  Buffalo  Commercial  Advertiser,  Aug.  19,  1845  ;  Oct.  10,  1845. 

«  From  1830  to  1835  the  increase  had  been  10,200 ;  from  1835  to  1840  it  was 
but  2,700  and  from  1840  to  1845  there  was  a  decrease  (History  of  Columbia 
County  (N.  Y.),  1,  345;  Buffalo  Commercial  Advertiser,  Oct.  10,  1845. 

48  Aug.  12,  1845. 

[55] 


BULLETIN    OF    THE    UNIVERSITY    OF    WISCONSIN 

advancement  of  agricultural  interests  in  the  northern  and 
southern  counties  of  the  state47  In  fact  it  held  out  induce- 
ments to  the  farmers  in  these  counties  to  emigrate.48 

Prior  to  the  opening  of  the  canal  wheat  and  other  grains 
were  grown  in  large  quantities  in  the  fertile  valleys  of  New 
York  and  found  profitable  markets;  but  the  high  prices  paid 
in  eastern  markets  rapidly  drew  western  grain  eastward  when 
facilities  for  transportation  were  obtainable.  In  1835  when  the 
cost  of  sending  wheat  from  Illinois  to  New  York  City  averaged 
from  twenty-five  to  thirty  cents  a  bushel49  the  Illinois  farmer 
found  it  profitable  and  nearly  100,000  bushels  besides  a  consid- 
erable  amount  of  flour  passed  through  the  canal  from  the  West 
during  the  year.50  Ten  years  later  it  cost  the  Illinois  farmer 
but  five  cents  a  bushel  to  send  his  wheat  to  Buffalo.51  The 
effect  is  seen  in  the  1,355,000  bushels  of  wheat,  which,  with 
717,500  barrels  of  flour  and  3,000,000  pounds  of  wool,  passed 
through  the  canal  from  the  West  during  that  year.52 

The  competition  was  too  severe  for  the  New  York  farmers 
and  numbers  were  compelled  either  to  change  their  industries 
to  the  more  profitable  ones  of  grazing  and  dairying  or  to  move 
to  the  cheap  lands  of  the  West,  where  they,  too,  could  take  ad- 
vantage of  the  fertile  soil  and  cheap  transportation.  The  Erie 
canal  had  been  completed  at  the  expense  of  the  tax-payers  of 
New  York.  Now  each  successive  tax  levy  which  was  used  to 
keep  the  canal  in  repair  served  only  to  make  the  taxpayer's 
property  decrease  in  value  owing  to  competition  it  helped  to 
create.  The  result  of  the  canal  policy  seems  evident— rit  oper- 
ated against  the  welfare  of  the  farmers  who  did  not  live  in  di- 
rect contact  with  the  canal  and  forced  them  in  many  bases  to 
leave  the  state  in  search  of  more  advantageous  locations.  \ 

The  concentration  of  property  also  did  its  work  towa-rds  in- 
creasing dissatisfaction  and  thereby  increasing  the  number  of 


47  Winden,  Influence  of  the  Erie  Canal  (MSS.  Thesis,  University  of  Wisconsin, 
1900). 

48  American  Railroad  Journal  and  General  Advertiser  (1845),  58. 

49  Northwestern  Gazette  and  Galena  (III.)  Advertiser,  Aug.  22,  1835. 
*°DeBoic's  Review,  2,  102. 

61  Buffalo  Commercial  Advertiser,  Aug.  19,  1845. 
B:  DcBoic's  Review,  2,  102. 

[56] 


POOLEY SETTLEMENT    OF    ILLINOIS,    1830-50  343 

emigrants.  On  account  of  this  concentration  of  property  the 
AjxLLJient  troubles  broke  out  among  the  settlers  living  along 
the  Hudson  and  Schoharie  rivers  in  eastern  New  York.  Al- 
though the  movement  was  at  first  of  little  consequence  it  in- 
creased in  violence,  culminating  in  an  outbreak  of  a  serious 
nature  which  was  only  subdued  by  concessions  by  the  land- 
holders.53 

A  like  disturbance  over  the  "Genesee  Tariff"  took  place  in  the 
Holland  Purchase  in  western  Neiw  York  in  1835.  The  Holland 
Land  Company  had  contracted  its  unsold  lands  and  lands  upon 
which  there  were  outstanding  claims  and  unexpired  contracts,  to 
two  speculators.  The  new  controllers  demanded  higher  rents  as 
well  as  the  interest  which  had  accumulated  upon  certain  leases. 
A  general  uprising  of  the  farmers  took  place  and  some  lawless 
proceedings  'were  carried  on.  These  incidents  are  evidences  of 
a  wide-spread  discontent  in  the  agricultural  class  of  the  state 
and  when  coupled  with  the  glowing  reports  of  opportunities 
offered  in  the  "West  they  throw  light  upon  the  agricultural 
emigration  thither. 

The  fever  for  the  establishment  of  colonies  in  the  West  grew 
constantly  during  the  thirties  and  forties  and  beyond  a  doubt 
some  people  who  under  other  conditions  would  have  remained 
at  home  were  carried  away  by  enthusiasm  for  such  undertak- 
ings.54 

From  Pennsylvania  there  came  a  steady  stream  of  immi- 
grants seeking  better  homes.  In  the  cities  conditions  similar 
to  those  described  in  New  York  prevailed  for  the  number  of  un- 
employed laborers  increased  and  wages  decreased  after  1837. 
Manufacturers  'were  not  as  successful  as  they  wished  to  be. 
Some  blamed  the  insufficient  protection  afforded  by  the  tariff,85 
but  undoubtedly  the  general  financial  unsteadiness  was  the 
cause. 


53  Delaware  (N.  Y.)  Gazette,  Sept.,  1874;  Delaware  (N.  Y.)  Courier,  Jan.  29, 
1864  ;  Feb.  5,  1864  ;  New  York  World,  Jan.  19,  1880. 

M  Chicago  Weekly  American,  June  20,  1835 ;  June  27,  1835 ;  July  9,  1836 ; 
New  York  Weekly  Tribune,  Nov.  5,  1842;  History  of  Henry  County  (111.),  135; 
Edson,  History  of  Chautauqua  County  (N.  Y.),  338  :  Curtiss,  Western  Portraiture, 
292  :  Thirtieth  Anniversary  of  the  Settlement  of  Geneseo  (111.). 

55  Hazard,  United  States  Commercial  and  Statistical  Register,  1,  333. 


344  BULLETIN    OF    THE    UNIVERSITY    OF    WISCONSIN 

The  farmers,  save  in  the  more  fertile  valleys  of  the  state,  were 
not  very  successful.  The  soil  in  the  less  favored  regions  was 
"poor  and  hard  to  cultivate"  and  the  country  "broken  and 
hilly."56  In  the  most  desirable  localities  the  process  of  subdivi- 
sion of  farms  had  gone  on  to  such  a  great  extent  that  by  the  be- 
ginning of  the  thirties  the  farms  were  exceedingly  small,  com- 
prising often  but  ten  or  twenty  acres.57  The  younger  genera- 
tion growing  up  at  this  time  was  in  need  of  a  place  to  earn  a 
ivelihood  and  some  went  to  the  cities,  others  to  the  West. 

Many  of  the  farmers  (were  renters  and  each  year  spent  as 
much  money  for  rent  as  would  buy  a  western  farm.  For  a  de- 
cade after  1835  Pennsylvania  was  flooded  with  circulars  describ- 
ing the  beauties  of  the  Illinois  country,  recommending  the  land 
.and  offering  flattering  inducements  to  settlers.58  "When  the  less 
prosperous  years  came  the  effect  of  these  circulars  became 
marked  and  many  took  their  'way  westward.  By  1850  there 
were  nearly  38,000  Pennsylvanians  in  Illinois  alone,  but,  as  the 
movement  was  a  gradual  one  and  due  to  no  exceptional  circum- 
stances, the  volume  at  different  years  is  not  easily  determined. 

From  1830  to  1850  the  movement  of  population  in  the  south- 
•ernjitates  was  one  of  decided  importance.  Before  1850  Virginia 
had  lost  by  emigration  twenty-six  per  cent,  of  her  native-born 
free  inhabitants.  South  Carolina  had  lost  thirty-six  per  cent, 
and  North  Carolina,  thirty-one  per  cent.59  Further  exami- 
nation of  statistics,  will,  however  show  that  the  movement  was 
probably  almost  entirely  within  the  limits  of  the  planting  states 
themselves.  From  1831  to  1840  Georgia  gained  nearly  thirty- 
four  per  cent,  in  population;  Alabama,  ninety-one  per  cent., 
Mississippi,  one  hundred  and  seventy-five  per  cent,  and  Arkan- 
sas, two  hundred  and  twenty-one  per  cent.  In  the  next  decade, 
while  the  percentages  of  increase  were  lower,  the  actual  gain 
in  population  in  these  states  was  little  less  than  in  the  preced- 
ing decade  and  if  Texas,  which  appears  for  the  first  time  in  the 


66  Lothrop,  Directory  of  Champaign  County    (111.),  118. 

57  Hazard,  Register  of  Pennsylvania,  8,  88. 

58  History  of  Livingston  County  (111.),  500. 

08  Abstract  of  the  Seventh  Census  (1850),  15. 


[58] 


TOOLEY SETTLEMENT    OF    ILLINOIS,,    1830~50    :         345 

census  reports,  be  included,  the  increase  was  nearly  200,000  in 
excess  of  that  of  the  preceding  decade.60 

Just  how  large  a  part  of  this  southern  stream  came  to  the 
Northwest  is  difficult  to  determine  but  an  examination  of  county 
histories  discloses  the  fact  that  during  the  decade  of  1831-1840, 
pioneers  from  the  South  and  Southwest  frequently  came  to  take 
up  the  woodlands  along  the  Illinois  rivers. 

To  a  combination  of  causes,  we  must  look  for  the  explanation 
•of  this  migration.  The  Indian  lands  of  Georgia  had  been  opened 
for  settlement  and  the  cultivation  of  cotton  was  rapidly  in- 
creasing along  the  'black  belt'  of  the  Gulf  States.  Moreover,  a 
.general  depression  pervaded  the  older  states  of  the  South  in  the^- 
thirties,  due  primarily  to  agricultural  conditions  and  aggra-^ 
vated  by  the  general  financial  embarrassment  of  the  last  half 
of  the  decade.  From  Maryland,61  Virginia,62  and  the  Caro- 
linas63  came  the  cry  of  ' '  worn-out  lands ' '  and  general  agricultural 
depression.  On  account  of  the  exhaustive  process  of  the  culti- 
vation of  the  staples,  tobacco  and  cotton,  there  had  been  going 
on  for  years,  a  steady  impoverishment  of  the  land,  but  while  the 
price  of  cotton  kept  up  it  was  a  profitable  industry  for  the 
planter.  A  decline  in  prices,  however,  set  in  and  following  the 
year  1837  there  came  a  crisis  in  the  cotton  industry,  which 
proved  a  hard  blow  to  southern  interests,  for  prices  fell  so  low 
that  the  cultivation  of  this  staple  was  no  longer  a  paying  ven- 
ture.64 To  make  matters  'worse,  the  price  of  tobacco  fell  in  a 
corresponding  degree.65 

The  cause  for  the  ill-success  of  the  agricultural,  class  may  be 
seen  in  the  character  of  the  products.  As  a  staple  was  the 
strength  and  life  of  the  South  so  was  it  also  the  weakness. 
In  good  years  when  crops  flourished,  all  was  well,  but  in'  poor 
years  (when  crops  failed,  disaster  followed.  Since  the  (rich 
planter  class  held  most  of  the  best  lands  of  the  South,  the  poor 


80  Seventh  Census    (1850),  4,  5. 

81  Niles'  Register,  49,  298. 

62  Martineau,  Society  in  America,  2,  41. 

63  Niles'  Register,  44,  222. 

64  The  Agricultural  Prospects  of  South  Carolina:    Her  Resources  and  Her  True 
Policy,  in  the  Southern  Quarterly  Review,  8,  119. 

Register,  52,  131. 

[59] 


346  BULLETIN    OF    THE    UNIVEKSITY    OF    WISCONSIN 

whites  were  confined  to  the  less  productive  portions  and  from 
this  there  arose  a  tendency  to  move.  In  the  case  of  the  planter, 
the  removal  came  with  the  wearing  out  of  the  old  lands ;  in  the 
case  of  the  poor  whites,  the  removal  came  whenever  an  oppor- 
tunity presented  itself. 

In  the  southern  mind  many  of  the  hardships  experienced  by 
the  people  of  that  section  could  be  attributed  to  the  tariff. 
This  view  is  shown  by  Mr.  Hayne,  senator  from  South  Caro- 
lina, who  in  1832  presented  to  the  Senate  a  memorial  which 
stated  that,  ' '  Although  other  causes  have  conspired  to  reduce  the 
income  of  the  citizens  of  the  south,  yet  it  is  the  tariff  alone 
which  denies  them  the  right  of  converting  that  reduced  income 
into  such  an  amount  of  the  necessaries  and  conveniences  of  life 
as  would  certainly  be  at  their  command  under  a  revenue  sys- 
tem of  moderate  duties  .  .  .  .  "CG  Charleston  is  the  ex- 
ample cited  to  show  the  conditions  which  prevailed  during  the 
early  thirties.  The  merchants  were  bankrupt,  the  mechanics 
in  despair,  grass  was  growing  in  the  streets,  houses  were  falling 
in  ruins,  real  estate  was  reduced  to  one-third  its  true  value  and 
rents  amounted  to  almost  nothing.  In  the  surrounding  country 
the  fields  were  abandoned,  agriculture  drooping  and  slaves  and 
masters  working  harder  than  ever  and  faring  worse.67  Condi- 
tions were  not  changed  in  1837  as  a  correspondent  writes  to  the 
New  York  Star,  He  points  out  that  the  business  houses  were 
failing  and  loans  could  be  had  only  at  rates  ranging  from  four 
to  ten  per  cent,  a  month  and  then  only  on  collateral  securities 
in  the  shape  of  jewels  and  other  valuables.68 

In  the  Southwest  conditions  were  not  much  better.  A  me- 
morial from  Louisville,  presented  to  the  Senate  in  1834  says, 
"Had  a  large  invading  army  passed  triumphantly  through  our 
country,  it  could  not  have  so  completely  marred  our  prosperity. 

.  .  .  The  countenances  of  our  citizens  are  more  gloomy 
and  desponding  than  when  the  dread  cholera  was  amongst 
us. '  '69  Money  here  commanded  five  per  cent,  a  month. 


w  Senate  Debates,  22  Cong.,  1  Sess.,  174. 
«'  Ibid.,  22  Cong. '  1  Sess..  80. 
88  Xiles'  Register,  52,  114. 

68  Refers    to    the    removal    of    U.    S.    Bank    Deposits.      (Senate    Debates,    23. 
Cong.,  I.  Sess.,  719.) 

[60] 


POOLEY SETTLEMENT    OF    ILLINOIS,    1830-50  347 

-''Another  cause  operated  to  turn  migration  northward"  dur-\ 
ing  this  period.  It  was  the  influence  of  the  institution  of  slav- 
ery. Slavery,  the  emigrants  from  the  South  said,  had  a  ten- 
dency to  create  class  distinction  to  a  marked  degree  and  to 
depreciate  the  effectiveness  of  free,  white  labor.  As  a  conse- 
quence immigrants  came  to  Illinois  from  Virginia,70  "West  Vir- 
ginia,71 Maryland,72  Georgia,73  Kentucky,74  and  TennesX" 
Vsee75  expressly  to  escape  the  effects  of  slavery,  which  as  they 
said,  operated  against  their  interests  in  their  native  states.  In 
all  probability  this  was  the  greatest  influence  operating  to  move 
southern  emigrants  to  northern  homes.  Free  labor  in  1832 
received  but  twelve  and  one-half  cents  a  day.76  It  was 
unable  to  compete  with  slave  labor  and  as  a  consequence  it  was 
compelled  to  withdraw. 

From  the  states  north  of  the  Ohio  river,  an  exceedingly  large 
emigration  came  to  the  newerlsT^esT  "The  causes  for  this  move- 
ment are  not  clearly  defined  and  much  of  the  emigration  can 
probably  be  attributed  to  the  ever  present  desire  to  obtain  better 
farming  lands.  Ohio  and  Indiana  were  both  good  agricultural  • 
states  and  owing  to  the  fact  that  the  chief  industry  was  farm- 
ing the  revulsion  of  1837  did  not  affect  them  to  such  an  extent 
as  it  did  the  eastern  states.77  Monetary  affairs  in  Ohio  got  into 
a  state  of  confusion,  however,  immediately  after  the  panic,  for 
the  " Three  Dollar  Law"  was  passed,  by  which  no  bank  was 
compelled  to  accept  bills  of  any  other  bank  for  amounts  of  three 
dollars  or  less.  Considerable  trouble  was  experienced  owing 
to  this  fact  and  undoubtedly  losses  resulted  to  all  classes. 
Money  brought  from  ten  to  fifty  per  cent,  a  year,78  which  placed 
it  beyond  the  reach  of  the  average  borrower  and  wrought  hard- 
ship upon  the  well-to-do. 


70  Weekly  Chicago  Democrat,  Feb.  4,  1848. 

71  lUd. 

n  History  of  Mercer  and  Henderson  Counties,  (111.)  803. 
78 Fen-all,  Ramble  through  the'United  States  (1832),  166. 

74  Recollections  of  John  M.  Palmer,  8. 

75  Stuart,  Three  Years  in  North  America,  2,  235. 
78  House  Debates,  22  Cong.,  I.  Sess.,  3154. 

77  Greene  County  Torch  Light,  (Xenla,  O.)  Dec.  9,  1859;  Ohio  Statesman,  Dec. 
3,  1889. 

78  Green  County    (O.)  Torch  Light,  Dec.  9,  1839. 

[61] 


348 


BULLETIN    OF    THE    UNIVERSITY    OF    WISCONSIN 


Indiana  had  its  experience  with  financial  troubles.  The  in- 
ternal improvement  craze  which  seized  upon  so  many  of  the 
states  before  1840  affected  this  state  also  and  coupled  with  dis- 
tress coming  from  too  much  banking,  trading  and  speculation 
threw  the  state  deeply  into  debt.79  Many  left  to  escape  paying 
their  debts;  some,  ruined  by  paying  them,  migrated  in  search 
of  other  homes  where  they  cguld  begin  life  anew  and  build 
up  their  broken  fortunes.  Still  others  seeing  the  immense  debt 
burdening  the  state  and  noting  the  slowness  of  the  return  of 
financial  solidity,  feared  an  increase  of  taxes,  sold  their  land 
and  moved  out  of  the  state  to  escape  the  additional  burden 
which  they  expected  would  be  laid  upon  the  people. 
"*  Soils  varied  greatly  in  fertility  all  through  the  states  of  the 
old  Northwest  Territory  bordering  on  the  Ohio  river.  The  Wis- 


"Haymond,  Indiana,  216. 


[62] 


POOLEY SETTLEMENT    OF    ILLINOIS,    1830-50  349 

cousin  glacier  had  moved  down  over  Illinois,  Indiana  and  Ohio, 
leaving  a  marked  effect  upon  the  fertility  of  the  soil  over 
which  it  passed.  Just  how  great  this  difference  was  can  be 
appreciated  only  by  an  examination  of  the  agricultural  statistics 
for  the  two  districts.  The  accompanying  sketch80  shows  in  a 
general  way  the  glaciated  and  unglaciated  portions  of  Ohio. 
The  portion  of  the  state  east  of  a  line  drawn  through  Canton, 
Newark,  Lancaster  and  Chillicothe  has  not  had  the  benefit  of 
glacial  action.  In  this  area  the  streams  run  in  deep  narrow 
channels  whose  valleys  are  fertile.  On  the  highlands  the  soil  is 
shallow  and  the  average  production  to  the  acre,  especially  in 
wheat,  not  nearly  so  great  as  within  the  limits  of  the  glaciated 
district,  being  only  as  nine  is  to  fourteen.  Lacking  the  depth 
of  soil  this  unglaciated  portion  wore  out  rapidly  and  the  crop 
returns  diminished  each  year.  The  census  of  1900  shows  that 
on  an  average  the  counties  inside  the  moraine  produce  $5,000 
or  more  of  agricultural  products  per  square  mile  annually, 
while  outside  the  average  production  per  square  mile  is  between 
$2,500  and  $5,000.81 

By  1850  the  difference  in  the  soils  was  noticeable.  The  reports 
of  1850  for  eight  counties  taken  along  the  middle  line  of  the  un- 
glaciated part  of  Ohio  show  forty-eight  and  six-tenths  per  cent, 
of  the  land  under  cultivation;  while  in  eleven  counties  selected 
from  those  within  the  limits  of  the  moraine  but  not  bordering 
upon  it  fifty-seven  per  cent,  of  the  land  was  cultivated  showing 
that  farmers  were  not  inclined  to  allow  good  land  to  lie  un- 
cultivated. In  the  case  of  dairy  products  the  difference  was 
not  so  noticeable  for  this  industry  seemed  the  best  suited  to 
southeastern  Ohio. 

In  land  values  the  difference  was  still  more  marked.  Outside 
the  moraine,  land  was  worth  on  an  average,  thirteen  dollars  and 
seventy-five  cents  an  acre  while  inside  it  was  valued  at  more 
than  nineteen  dollars  an  acre.  In  other  words,  a  farm  of  one 
hundred  acres  in  the  glaciated  part  of  the  state  was  as  valuable 
as  one  of  one  hundred  and  forty  acres  in  the  less  favored  loca- 
tions.82 


80  For  map  see  Geological  Survey  of  Ohio  (Columbus,  1884,)  5,  755. 

81  Twelfth  Census  (1900)  Agriculture,  pt.  1,  plate  4. 

82  Seventh  Census  (1850),  862-868. 

[63] 


350  BULLETIN    OF    THE    UNIVERSITY    OF    WISCONSIN 

Like  conditions  prevailed  in  Indiana.  The  unglaciated  part 
of  the  state  lacked  fertility  and  the  soil  soon  wore  out.  Statistics 
for  1850  collected  from  eight  counties  inside  the  glacial  moraine 
and  a  like  number  outside  of  it  show  that  glaciated  land  was 
valued  at  twelve  dollars  and  sixty  cents  per  acre,  while  land  not 
glaciated  was  worth  but  six  dollars  and  sixty  cents  per  acre — 
little  more  than  half  as  much.  The  farms  in  the  central  part 
of  the  state  produced  on  an  average  fourteen  bushels  of  cereals 
per  acre;  in'  the  southern  part,  the  average  production  was  less 
than  eleven  bushels  per  acre.  In  units  of  other  produce,  the 
difference  between  the  areas  was  as  great;  three  and  three- 
fourths  units  being  the  average  production  per  acre  for  the 
glaciated  portion  and  two  and  two-tenths  units  the  average, 
outside  the  moraine.83 

At  first  glance  the  differences  may  not  seem  marked  enough 
to  have  had  any  great  effect  but  to  the  farmer  who  spent  his 
time  working  earnestly  it  was  disappointing  to  find  that  he 
could  raise  but  half  as  much  produce  per  acre  as  his  neighbor 
who  worked  no  harder  than  he  and  who  cultivated  no  more 
ground.  In  these  relative  land  values  it  seems  that  a  cause  for 
emigration  can  be  found.8* 

The  flood  of  circulars  which  came  from  Illinois  in  the  closing 
years  of  the  forties  may  have  influenced  some  to  move  to  that 
state.  At  home,  inducements  were  offered  to  some  farmers  to 
move  since  capitalists  found  it  a  paying  investment  to  buy  up 
the  worn-out  farms  of  southeastern  Ohio  and  by  means  of  fer- 
tilizers to  restore  the  strength  of  the  land.85  Many  took  ad- 
vantage of  the  opportunity  to  sell  and  moved  away. 

A  general  law  which  seems  to  have  always  been  fundamental 
in  the  westward  movement  was  doubtless  in  operation.  Ohio 
and  Indiana  had  been  settled  with  rapidity  and  had  now  been  in 
the  Union  for  a  generation  or  more;  the  boys  of  the  younger 


8S  Seventh  Census  (1850).  790-797. 

M  In  the  selection  of  examples  care  has  been  taken  that  New  England  settle- 
ments should  not  be  opposed  to  the  southern  settlements  thus  opposing  thrift 
and  shiftlessness  in  agricultural  methods.  Contrast  Von  Hoist.  Constitutional 
History,  3,  570;  Calhoun  Papers  in  American  Hist.  Ass'n  Reports  (1898), 
S,  196. 

K  Seventh  Annual  Report  of  the  Ohio  State  Board  of  Agriculture  (1852),  408. 


[64] 


POOLEY SETTLEMENT    OF    ILLINOIS,    1830-50  351 

generation  were  growing  to  manhood  and  knowing  by  experi- 
ence the  possibilities  of  the  West  and  the  ease  with  which  the 
western  land  could  be  procured,  and  knowing  the  returns  ob- 
tained by  ordinary  effort  <were  anxious  to  become  land  owners. 
The  families  of  these  pioneers  were  large  as  a  rule,  so  a  divi- 
sion of  the  paternal  inheritance  could  not  be  thought  of  by  the 
sons  and  they  went  out  to  take  up  lands  for  themselves.  Travel- 
ing by  wagon  they  soon  came  to  the  prairies  of  Illinois  and 
finding  the  land  here  exceedingly  fertile  they  were  content  to 
settle  wherever  an  opportunity,  which  generally  meaprt  timber, 
presented  itself.  An  examination  of  the  nativities  of-'the  settlers 
of  the  eastern  Illinois  counties  will  show  a  great  percentage  of 
Ohio  men  and  Indiana  men,  which  leads  one' to  believe  that 
this  immigration  was  a  natural  agricultural  one  produced  by 
no  special  causes  save  the  general  desire  to  obtain  better  eco- 
nomic conditions.  .^ 

From  the  foregoing  causes  it  seems  reasonable  to  believe  that 
the  influences  bringing  about  the  western  expansion  in  this  > ; 
period,  were  primarily  economic.  The  movement  may  be 
characterized  as  an  attempt  upon  the  part  of  the  American 
farmer  and  laborer  to  widen  his  industrial  field  and  to  uplift  his 
standard  of  living  by  taking  advantage  of  the  opportunities 
offered  in  the  new  West. 


[65] 


352  BULLETIN    OF    THE    UNIVERSITY    OF    WISCONSIN- 


CHAPTER  IV 

THE  WAY  TO  THE  WEST 


Broadly  speaking  the  movement  of  the  pioneers  across  the 
continent  has  always  been  along  the  lines  of  least  resistance, 
following  in  a  general  way  the  lines  of  latitude.  Illinois  is  a 
remarkable  illustration  of  the  latter  tendency.  In  length  the 
state  is  about  four  hundred  miles  and  the  parallels  of  latitude 
which  mark  its  northern  and  southern  extremities  include  all 
those  states  from  northern  Massachusetts  to  southern  Virginia. 
Xln  the  southern  counties  of  the  state  a«great  part  of  the  settlers 
are  descendants  of  the  pioneers  who  came  from  the  southern 
and  southwestern  states;  in  the  northern  and  eastern  counties 
the  settlers,  exclusive  of  foreigners,  are  principally  descended 
.  ^rom  New  Englanders  or  people  from  the  Middle  States. 

In  the  early  pioneer  days  there  were  fpur  established  lines 
of  travel  to  the  West,  following  trails  made  by  nature. 
Farthest  to  the  north  lay  the  line  of  th^-Mohawk  valley,  after- 
wards to  be  the  path  of  the  Erie  canal.  Next,  to  the  south,  was 
a  line  of  communication  which  folio-wed  the  course  of  the  upper 
Potomac  and  passed  through  southern  Pennsylvania,  western 
Maryland  and  northern  Virginia.  Still  farther  south  lay  the 
roads  up  the  valleys  of  Virginia  opening  through  the  mountain 
gaps  into  Tennessee  and  Kentucky,  and  lastly  there  were  the 
trails  leading  around  the  southern  extremity  of  the  Appa- 
lachian system  and  spreading  over  the  Gulf  States. 

To  trace  out  any  general  line  of  travel  is  difficult  but  it  ap- 
pears that  there  was  a  tendency  for  the  northern  immigrants 
to  move  towards  the  Ohio  river  or  the  Great  Lakes  and  follow 
these  lines  westward.  This  tendency  is  especially  noticeable 
when  upon  the  completion  of  the  Erie  Canal  the  line  of  water 

[66] 


POOLEY SETTLEMENT    OF    ILLINOIS,    1830-50  353 

communication  extended  unbroken  from  New  York  city  through 
the  Great  Lakes. 

,  Farther  to  the  south  it  is  a  stiil  more  difficult  matter  to  de- 
termine the  location  of  any  general  route  of  travel  westward. 
The  southerner  packed  up  his  household  goods,  faced  the  West 
and  traveled  by  the  most  convenient  road,  f  An  illustration 
of  this  characteristic  is  given  in  the  answer  made  by  a  North 
Carolina  man  who,  traveling  westward  with  all  his  earthly 
possessions,  was  asked  where  he  was  going.  "No  where  in 
pertick'lar"  he  ans'wered.  "Me  and  my  wife  thought  we'd 
hunt  a  place  to  settle.  "We've  no  money,  nor  no  plunder — 
nothin'  but  just  ourselves  and  this  nag — we  thought  we'd 
try  our  luck  in  a  new  country.  "M  The  vague  desire  for 
a  change  of  location  is  shown  here  as  well  as  one  class  of  people 
moving  from  the  South  in  the  early  decades  of  the  century.' •, 
vjn'  order  to  understand  the  lines  of  travel,  it  is  necessary  to 
note  the  convergence  of  the  several  minor  lines  with  the  great  N 
trunk  lines  and  also  to  note  the  divergence.  From  Montreal 
and  Quebec,  which  were  the  landing  places  of  many  Europeans 
bound  for  the  Northwest,  the  St.  Lawrence  river  offered  a  cpn- 
venient  road.2  The  New  Englanders,  after  the  opening  of  the 
Erie  canal,  in  1825,  if  they  lived  near  the  Hudson  river  valley, 
were  inclined  to  travel  the  nearest  road  to  Albany  and  proceed 
by  water.  There  was  a  decided  tendency  among  those  living 
within  a  convenient  distance  from  Boston  to  go  to  that  city 
and  thence  to  Philadelphia3  or  Baltimore*  and  westward  by 
stage,  canal  and  railway  to  a  point  upon  the  Ohio  river,  gener- 
ally Pittsburg  or  Wheeling. 

The  people  of  northern  and  western  New  York  and  such  other 
parts  of  the  state  as  were  close  to  the  Erie  canal  generally 
followed  it  to  the  Great  Lakes  and  thence  westward.5  Still 
others  found  it  more  convenient  to  go  by  the  southern  wagon 
road  leading  from  Kingston  on  the  Hudson  through  Ithaca  and 


1  Chicago  TTeefcZy  American,  June  20,  1835. 
a  Boston  Weekly  Messenger,  October  14,  1819. 

8  Stories   of   the  Pioneer  Mothers   of  Illinois    (MSS.    in    111.    State   Historical 
Library). 

*  Illinois  Monthly  Magazine,  2,  52.  , 

*  Stories  of  the  Pioneer  Mothers  of  Illinois  (MSS.  in  111.  State  Hist.  Library). 

[67] 


354  BULLETIN"    OF    THE    UNIVERSITY    OF    WISCONSIN 

Bath  to  the  Alleghany  river6  or  to  Erie  (Pa.)  and  thence  south 
to  Beaver  on  the  Ohio  where  they  embarked  upon  rafts  or 

>  steamboats. 

Buffalo  was  the  great  port  for  embarking  for  the  West,  and 

/BO  continued  after  the  opening  of  the  steamer  lines  on  the  lakes. 
During  the  year  1834  some  80,000  people  were  counted  leaving 
Buffalo.7  Eleven  years  later  the  number  had  grown  to  almost 
98,000.8  Thousands  of  the  travelers  were  destined  to  the  ports 
of  Detroit,  Milwaukee  and  Chicago;  the  remainder  were  for 
intermediate  ports,  for  they  did  not  believe  the  trip  through  the 
entire  length  of  the  lakes  to  be  the  most  advantageous.  It 
was  a  common  occurrence  for  immigrants  to  leave  the  water 
at  Buffalo,  or  at  Erie  and  then  turn  south  to  the  Ohio  river.9 
Others  went  to  Cleveland  and  reached  the  Ohio  by  way  of  the 
Cuyahoga  and  Scioto  rivers.10  The  greater  number  of  settlers 
bound  for  the  states  around  the  upper  Lakes  went  to  one  of  the 
three  great  ports  and  found  their  way  to  their  homes  by  various 
methods.  Some  bound  for  central  Illinois  left  the  Lakes  at 
Detroit,  came  over  land  to  the  Kankakee  river  and  floated  down 
It  to  the  Illinois.11 

Those  migrating  from  the  Middle  States  turned  towards  the 
great  highways  leading  from  Baltimore  and  Philadelphia  over 
the  mountains  to  Pittsburg  or  Wheeling.  From  Philadelphia 
the  Columbia  railway  or  the  Schuylkill  river  and  Union  canal 
connected  with  the  Pennsylvania  canal  along  the  Susquehanna 
and  Juniata  rivers.  This  route  was  followed  to  Hollidaysburg 
where  the  Portage  railway  commenced.  The  railway  acted  as 
a  connecting  link  between  the  waterways  of  eastern  and  western 
Pennsylvania.  Writers  and  travele.rs__ comment  upon  it  as  one 
of  the  wonderful  achievements  of  the  age.  Jones  in  his  Ill- 
inois and  the  West  (1838)  says  "the  Portage  Railroad  over  the 
Alleghanies  is  a  wonderful  work.  .  .  .  The  road  consists 


«  Lloyd- Jones,  Routes  to  Wisconsin  (University  of  Wisconsin  MS.  Thesis  (1902). 
T  Niles'  Register,  58,  234. 
8  Albach,  Annals  of  the  West,  958. 
'Illinois  Monthly  Magazine,  2,  53. 

10  Stephen    A.  Douglas    came    to  Illinois    by  this  road    in  the    early  thirties. 
{Proceedings  of  the  III.  Ass'n  of  the  Sons  of  Vermont  (1877)  11). 
"Duis,  Good  Old  Times  in  McLean  County  (111.),  229. 


[68] 


POOLEY SETTLEMENT    OF    ILLINOIS,,    1830-50 

of  five  inclined  planes  on  each  side  of  the  mountains  with  their 
levels.  The  planes  are  from  three-fourths  of  a  mile  to  a  mile 
and  a  quarter  in  length  and  the  levels  from  one  to  sixteen  miles. 
The  short  levels  are  furnished  'with  horse  power  and  the  longer 
ones  with  locomotives."12  From  1834  it  seems  to  have  been  the 
custom  to  load  the  canal  boats  from  the  eastern  side  on  cars 
furnished  for  the  purpose,  transport  them  over  the  mountains 
and  deposit  them  in  the  canal  upon  the  opposite  side;13  from 
this  point  (Johnstown)  the  communication  by  water  was  un- 
interrupted to  th^Ohio.  Some  immigrants  came  by  way  of 
Lancaster,  Columbia,  Chambersburg  and  Somerset  to  Pittsburg 
on  the  Ohio  or  to  Brownsville  on  the  Old  National  Road. 

Baltimore's  connection  with  the  West  was  by  way  of  the- 
National  Road  from  Cumberland  on  the  Potomac.  The  Chesa- 
peake and  Ohio  canal  leading  to  Pittsburg  and  the  Baltimore- 
and  Ohio  railroad  to  Wheeling  although  primarily  planned  to 
give  Baltimore  close  connection  with  the  western  country  had 
been  slow  in  construction.  By  1850  the  canal  was  completed 
only  to  Cumberland  on  the  Potomac14  and  the  railroad  had 
reached  this  place  but  eight  years  before.  The  latter,  however, 
was  of  some  importance  at  least  in  the  conveyance  of  goods- 
to  the  West,  almost  782,000  tons  of  freight  having  passed  west- 
ward previous  to  1851.15 

From  the  surrounding  country  along  all  the  wagon  roads, 
came  load  after  load  of  household  goods  bound  for  the  various 
Ohio  river  towns.16  Hundreds  preferred  the  National  Road  to 
the  Ohio,  blocking  it  up  with  their  caravans.  Niles'  Register17 
says  "the  National  Road  has  the  whole  season  been  blocked  up 
with  movers'  wagons  and  from  the  representations,  people 
enough  have  changed  homes  from  the  east  to  the  west  in  1839  to 
add  another  state  to  the  national  constellation  had  they  all  lo- 
cated in  a  single  territory." 

12  Jones,  Illinois  and  the  West,  16. 

18  Galena  Gazette,  Dec.    13,    1834     (Extract    from    the    Hollidaysburg    (Pa.) 
Aurora)  ;  Luchslnger,  Neiv  Glarus,  in  Wis.  Hist.  Colls.,  12,  354. 

14  Ward,  Chesapeake  and  Ohio  Canal,  In  Johns  Hopkins  University  Studies,  17, 
534. 

15  Reizenstein,    Baltimore   and   Ohio   Railroad,    in    Johns   Hopkins    University 
Studies,  15,  359. 

18  Wheeling  Gazette,  Sept.  1,  1832. 
17  Niles'  Register,  52,  224. 

[69] 


356  BULLETIN    OF    THE    UNIVERSITY    OF    WISCONSIN 

From  tire  South  Atlantic  states  much  the  same  general  course 
was  f  olid  week.  The  roads  up  the  Virginia  valleys  converged  at 
the  Cumberland  Gap,  although  some  movers  preferred  to  travel 
towards  the  Potomac  river  striking  the  Old  National  Road  there. 
Still  others  followed  along  the  road  leading  through  Ghar- 
lottesville  (Va.),  Staunton,  Lewisburg  and  Charlestown  to 
Guyandotte  on  the  Ohio.18  From  the  Carolinas  they  followed  the 
Yadkin  through  Wilkesville,  thence  northward  through  Ward's 
Gap  (Va.)  across  the  valley  to  the  Great  Kanahwa;  or  turning 
southwest  from  "Wilkesville  some  went  through  the  State  Gap 
(N.  C.)  and  found  their  way  to  one  of  the  Ohio  river  towns  by 
way  of  the  Cumberland  Gap.  The  roads  of  South  Carolina 
followed  the  rivers,  and  converging  at  the  Saluda  Gap  in  the 
Blue  Ridge,  passed  through  Asheville  (N.  C.),  through  the 
Smoky  mountains  and  the  Cumberland  Gap  to  Kentucky.19  As 
a  general  rule  where  there  was  any  tendency  to  follow  a  beaten 
line  of  travel  it  was  towards  some  point  on  the  Ohio  between 
Cincinnati  and  Louisville.  If  the  whole  trip  was  to  be  by 
wagon  the  pioneers  generally  continued  northward  across  the 
Ohio  to  Vincennes  (Ind.),  Terre  Haute  (Ind.)  or  Shawnee- 
town  (111.)20 

The  great  road  from  southern  Kentucky,  central  Tennessee 
and  the  Carolinas  lay  through  Christian  and  Caldwell  coun- 
ties in  Kentucky  crossing  the  Ohio  at  Ford's  Ferry  and  pro- 
ceeding along  the  road  through  Equality,  Mt.  Vernon  and 
Carlyle.  On  this  road  could  be  seen  every  conceivable  sort  of 
conveyance  from  a  handsome  family  carriage  to  the  humblest 
sort  of  an  ox-cart.21  \- 

One  more  regular  route  of  travel  must  be  'noticed.  Thi 
fs  the  Mississippi  river.  New  Orleans  'was  the  great  port  of 
the  South  and  here  a  considerable  number  of  foreigners  landed 
each  year.  Few  of  these,  it  seems,  cared  to 'stay  in  the  South 
for  the  up-stream  boats  each  year  brought  hundreds  of  Ger- 
mans, Irish  and  other  foreigners  seeking  homes  in  the  interior.22 

18  Peck,  Gazetteer  of  Illinois  (1837),  323. 

19  Reminiscences  of  Levi  Coffin,  76. 

20  History  of  Coles  County  (III.),  409.  / 

21  Personal  Recollections  of  John  M.  Palmer,  11.  » 

22  Emigrants'  and  Travelers'  Guide  through  the  Valley  of  the  Mississippi,  341 ; 
Madison  City  Express,  April  25,  1844. 

[70] 


POOLEY SETTLEMENT    OF    ILLINOIS,    1830-50  357 

.The  roads  taken  by  the  movers  from  the  older  states  of  the 
Northwest  Territory  cannot  be  distinctly  marked.  The  pio- 
neers from  Ohio  living  near  the  great  river  or  its  branches  took 
advantage  of  this  convenient  road.23  Others  living  along  the 
lire  of  the  Old  National  Road  were  equally  certain  to  take  ad- 
vantage of  it.  The  people  of  Indiana,  being  close  to  Illinois, 
were  less  likely  to  follow  any  one  of  these  routes  and  it  is  dif- 
ficult to  find  information  regarding  these  settlers,  other  than 
that  they  generally  came  in  wagons  or  perhaps,  when  not  in 
possession  of  many  household  goods,  on  foot. 

As  there  were  points  vfor  congregation  of  immigrants,  so  were 
there  points  for  dispersion.  Shawneetown,  Vincennes  and 
Terre  Haute  on  the  eastern  border"  of  the  state  have  already 
been  mentioned.  Detroit,  to  the  northeast,  has  also  been  shown 
to  be  a  place  from  which  the  pioneers  spread  over  the  country, 
some  of  them  reaching  northern  and  central  Illinois.  On  the 
south,  beyond  the  bounds  of  the  state  lay  another,  Louisville, 
from  which  several  roads  by  land  and  water  presented  them- 
selves according  to  the  destination  of  the  traveler. 
(^  St.  Louis  was  the  important  point  for  travelers  coming  by 
way  of  the  Mississippi.  From  this  city  nearly  every  point  in 
Illinois  could  be  reached  in  a  reasonably  short  time  since  steam- 
boats departed  almost  daily  for  all  Illinois  towns  lying  along 
the  Mississippi,24  and  others  plied  up  and  down  the  Illinois 
river.25  By  1850  this  latter  line  was  increased  in  importance 
by  the  opening  of  .the  Illinois-Michigan  canal  which  connected 
St.  Louis  and  Chicago  by  a  waterway.  In  1831  stage  lines  also  ' 
led  from 'St.  Louis  to  various  settlements  throughout  Illinois. 
Three  times  a  week  the  stage  left  St.  Louis  for  Vincennes,  In- 
diana, passing  through  Belleville,  Lebanon,  Carlyle,  Maysville 
and  Laurenceville ;  once  a  week  a  stage  went  to  Vandalia  by 
way  of  Edwardsville  and  Greenville  and  once  a  week  to  Galena 
by  way  of  Edwardsville,  Springfield  and  Peoria.26 


23 History  of  McLean  County  (III.),  467. 

21  Illinois  Monthly  Mayazinc,  2,  54;  Buffalo  Commercial  Advertiser,  May  27, 
1846.  " 

25  In  1836  there  were  thirty-five  steamboats  on  the  Illinois  River.  (History 
•of  Mena.nl  and  Mason  Counties,  501.) 

28  Illinois  Monthly  Magazine,  2.  54, 


. 


358  BULLETIN    OF    THE    UNIVERSITY    OF    WISCONSIN 

In  the  extreme  northwest  corner  of  the  state  in  the  lead  re- 

gion lay  Galena,  the  objective  point  of  all  immigrants  to  tlat 

region  in  the  early  days.27     It  was  most  easily  reached  by  way 

of  the  Mississippi,  and  in  1822  the  "Virginia"  on  her  way  'to 

Fort  Snelling  stopped  at  Galena,  being  the  first  steamboat  to 

enter  the  port.28    By   1846  steamers  plied  daily  between  St. 

Louis  and  this  port.29     As  the  lead  mining  industry  grew,  the 

importance  of  Galena  »  as  a  distributing  port  for  the  Northwest 

r    grew  also.     In  1832,  ten  years  after  the  coming  of  the  fr.ist 

/  j    steamboat,   one    hundred    steamboats    and    seventy    keel-bolts 

I    landed  there.30 

During  the  time  of  the  earlier  days  in  the  northwestern  part 
of  the  state  before  the  railroads  began  to  operate,  the  merchants 
of  the  section  carted  their  goods  overland  from  Galena,  which 
was  the  most  convenient  point  for  receiving  supplies  from  the 
east  and  south.  Here,  too,  was  the  market  of  the  farmers,  or 
at  least  the  shipping  point  for  markets  down  the  river.  So 
intimate  was  Galena's  connection  with  the  South  by  means  of 
the  great  river,  that  for  years  its  people  were  decidedly  southern 
in  their  sympathies  as  was  indicated  by  the  sentiments  expressed 
-  in  their  newspapers. 

The  objective  point  for  immigrants  to  Illinois  after  1834  was 
Chicago,  if  the  journey  was  made  by  way  of  the  Great  Lakes. 
Frequently,  indeed,  we  find  mention  of  the  number  of  immi- 
grants landing  at  this  point  and  of  the  rapidly  increasing 
number  of  vessels  employed  in  transporting  these  people.  In 
1833  four  vessels  came  to  Chicago  harbor,31  this  number  in- 
creased to  one  hundred  and  eighty  during  the  next  year82  and 
to  over  four  hundred  and  fifty  in  1836.33  "Almost  all  vessels 
from  the  lower  lakes  are  full  of  passengers  and  our  streets  are 
thronged  with  wagons  loaded  with  household  furniture  and  the 
implements  necessary  for  farming.  Foot-passengers,  too,  with 


'> 


27  Strong,  History  of  Wisconsin  Territory,  118. 

28  Galena  and  its  Lcadmines,  In  Harper's  Magazine,  32,  693. 

29  Buffalo  Commercial  Advertiser,  May  27,  1846. 

80  History  of  Jo  Davicss  County,  257. 

81  Hunt's  Merchants'  Magazine,  IS,  166. 
32  Niles'  Register,  47,  55. 

S3  Hunt's  Merchant  Magazine,  18,  166. 

[72] 


POOLEY SETTLEMENT    OF    ILLINOIS,    1830-50  3591 

well-filled  sacks  on  their  shoulders  come  in  large  numbers."3* 
This  was  the  comment  of  a  Chicago  newspaper  in  1835.  In 
1836  the  same  paper  states  that  the  town  "is  rapidly  filling  up 
with  strangers."35  After  the  financial  depression  which  lasted 
from  1837  to  1842,  Chicago  again  began  to  feel  the  westward 
movement,  the  Chicago  Express  noting  that  "the  tide  of  immi- 
gration is  gradually  setting  in  again  to  Illinois."36 

At  a  comparatively  early  date  lines  of  communication  were; 
established  from  Chicago  to  various  points  in  eastern,  central 
and  northern  Illinois.  The  chief  road  to  the  settlements  along 
the  Vermilion  and  Wabash  rivers  was  the  'Hubbard  Trace.'  or 
the  'State  Road'  leading  from  Chicago  to  Danville.37  In  1836 
a  line  of  wagons,  operating  between  Chicago  and -the  Kankakee 
river  was  established.  From  this  point  connections  were  made 
with  the  Illinois  river  steamboats  by  means  of  flat  boats.  Primarily 
this  transportation  line  was  for  the  benefit  of  St.  Louis  andx 
Alton  merchants  who  were  desirous  of  receiving  their  goods  by 
way  of  the  lakes.38  Immigrants,  however,  took  advantage  of 
the  conveniences  offered.  Three  years  later  the  Frink  and  Bing- 
ham  stage  line  from  Chicago  to  Galena  was  in  operation  adver- 
tising that  the  entire  journey  of  one  hundred  and  sixty  miles- 
would  be  covered  by  their  coaches  in  two  days  and  that  pas- 
sengers would  be  carried  for  twelve  and  one-half  dollars  per 
head.39 

It  has  been  indicated  that,  previous  to  the  beginning  of  steam 
navigation  on  the  Great  Lakes,  the  amount  of  travel  along  this 
highway  was  limited.  After  its  beginning  the  number  of  pas- 
sengers desiring  transportation  increased  with  astonishing  rap- 
idity. With  the  increased  demand  by  immigrants  grew  the 
number  of  steamers.  In  1833  eleven  steamboats  carried  about 
43,000  movers  from  Buffalo  to  the  West.40  In  the  next  year  the 
number  of  boats  had  grown  to  eighteen41  but  it  was  not  suffi- 


34  Chicago  'Weekly  Chronicle,  Nov.  21,  1835. 

55  IUd.,  June  18,  1836. 

36  Chicago  Express,  June  27,  1843. 

87  Beckwlth,  History  of  Vermillion  County,  651. 

38  Northwestern  Gazette  and  Galena  Advertiser,  Jan.  16,  1836. 

39  IUd.,  Aug.  27,  1839. 

40  MacGregor,  Commercial  Statistics  of  America,  675. 
« IWd. 

[73] 


-360  BULLETIN    OF    THE    UNIVEBSITY    OF    WISCONSIN 

cient  to  satisfy  the  demand,  for  sailing  vessels  of  all  descrip- 
tions were  used.  During  the  summer  season  of  1835,  it  was 
estimated  that  1200  people  daily  left  the  port  of  Buffalo  bound 
for  the  far  West.42  The  year  1839  saw  the  establishment  of  a  reg- 
ular line  of  steamers  from  Buffalo  to  JDefcroit_and_Chicago.43 
\/  There  were  eight  boats  in  this  transportation  line  and  they  made 
trips  from  Buffalo  to  Detroit  every  sixteen  days.  Between 
Detroit  and  Chicago  was  a  line  of  light  boats  and  by  1847  the 
traffic  on  the  lakes  had  grown  to  such  an  extent  that  sixty 
*  steamboats  and  three  hundred  and  forty  vessels  of  other  des- 
criptions were  necessary  to  handle  the  traffic.44 

The  cost  of  transportation  along  this  route  of  travel  varied 
considerably  as  competition  became  brisk.  From  Albany  to 
Buffalo-at  the  beginning  of  the  period  the  fare  was  fifteen  dol- 
lars and  sixty-two  cents45  by  packet.  Three  years  later  it  had 
dropped  to  fourteen  and  one-half  dollars46  and  when  railroads 
got  into  running  order  transportation  between  these  points  cost 
eleven  dollars  by  land,  and  one  and  one-half  cents  per  mile  by 
the  canal,  meals  to  be  paid  for  by  the  travelers.47  From  Buf- 
falo to  Chicago  by  steamboat  cost  twenty  dollars  in  1840  ;48 
fifteen  dollars  in  1842,49  twelve  dollars  in  1847  ;50  and  but  ten 
dollars  in  1850  ;51  steerage  passage  could  be  obtained  for  about 
half  the  above  prices.  Prices  on  propellers  and  schooners 
ranged  from  four  to  eight  dollars  as  steerage  or  cabin  passage 
was  taken.52 

Freight  rates  varied  as  did  the  prices  of  passenger  traffic  and 
charges  were  made,  sometimes  by  weight  and  sometimes  by 
barrel  bulk.53  In  1836  the  average  cost  per  hundred  weight 
from  New  York  to  Chicago  was  one  and  one-half  dollars.54  In 


42  Chicago  Weekly  American,  July  25,   1835. 

43  Niles'  Register,  44,  125. 

44  De  Boic's  Review,  2,  102. 

45  Illinois  Monthly  Magazine,  2,  52. 

46  Emigrant^'  and  Travelers'  Guide  to  the  Mississippi  Valley,  363. 
47Norris  and  Gardiner,  Illinois  Annual  Register  (1847),  24. 

>"Evanston  Historical  Society,  Proceedings  (1902),  3. 
/  •*•  Chicago  Democrat,  April  13,  1842. 

/   /"°Norris  and  Gardiner,  Illinois  Annual  Register  (1847),  24. 
|    r^i  Evanston  Historical  Society,  Proceedings  (1902),  3. 

orris  and  Gardiner,  Illinois  Annual  Register  (1847).  24. 
1  Albany  Cultivator  (1841),  8,  53. 
54  Chicago  Weekly  American,  July  9,  1836. 

[74] 


POOLEY SETTLEMENT    OF    ILLINOIS,    1830-50  361 

the  early  forties  rates  from  Buffalo  to  Chicago  were  quoted 
at  fifty  cents  per  hundred  weight  on  heavy  stuff  and  eighty- 
seven  and  one-half  cents  on  light  stuff.55  It  is  evident  from 
these  classifications  of  rates  that  room  rather  than  weight  was 
what  the  shipper  paid  for. 

^  The  amount  of  goods  each  mover  brought  depended  upon  his 
financial  condition  and  his  inclination  to  pay  freight.  Some 
loaded  their  horses,  wagons  and  all  upon  the  decks  of  the  boats; 
others  came  with  only  what  they  could  carry  on  their  shoulders. 
Advice  as  to  what  the  immigrant  should  take  with  him  to  the 
West  varied  greatly.  One  authority  told  the  travelers  that 

i  they  "should  not  pay  freight  on  horses  and  cattle  or  upon 
hogs."56  Another  advised  it,  saying  that  the  immigrants 
need  fear  no  difficulty  in  bringing  stock  with  them  as  several 
of  the  masters  of  boats  seemed  "to  take  great  interest  in  the 

\  shipment  of  choice  stock  to  the  West."57  It  seems  probable, 
however,  that  what  stock  was  brought  to  Illinois  by  the  settlers 
generally  came  with  those  traveling  overland. 

Speed  of  .travel  increased  as  did  the  volume.  In  1836,  seven- 
teen and  one-half  days  were  consumed  in  making  the  trip  from 
New  York  to  Chicago;58  by  1840  the  distance  from  Chicago  to 
Buffalo  had  been  covered  in  two  days  and  two  nights.59  Three 
and  one-half  days  for  the  same  trip  was  the  best  time  made  be- 
fore 1850.60 

The  steamers  seem  to  have  been  regarded  as  almost  perfect 
as  is  shown  by  the  enthusiastic  description  of  a  lake  steamer  given 
by  a  Chicago  newspaper  man  in  1841.  "It  is  difficult,"  he 
says,  "to  conceive  of  their  superiors  whether  we  regard  swift- 
ness or  beauty  of  model.  They  float  upon  the  water  like  swans; 
they  move  through  it  like  its  own  finny  inhabitants.  Travelers 
from  the  South  and  East  are  in  raptures  with  them  and  they 
may  well  be  so. '  '61  The  large  boats  sometimes  carried  nine  hun- 
dred passengers  with  their  luggage  at  one  trip.  Many  of  these 


55  Chicago  Democrat,  April  13,  1842. 
60  Marshall,  Farmers'  and,  Emigrants'  Handbook,  24. 
"Albany  Cultivator  (1841),  8,  53. 
68  Chicago  Weekly  American,  July  9,  1836. 
"»  Niles'  Register,  58,  288. 
/*>  Chicago  Times,  Dec.  27,  1841. 
91  Chicago  Weekly  American,  Sept.  6,  1841. 

[75] 


362  BULLETIN    OF    THE    UNIVERSITY    OF    WISCONSIN 

probably  were  deck  passengers  having  no  more  accommodations 
than  mere  shelter  from  the  weather.     Towards  the  close  of  the 
Aj  forties  the  railroads  which  were   developing  slowly  began  to 
j  ^divert  the  passenger  traffic  from  the  Great  Lakes.62 

Many  immigrants  landed  in  Chicago  who  had  not  means 
enough  to  take  advantage  of  the  stage  lines,  nor  had  they  wag- 
ons of  their  own.  The  more  fortunate,  ho'wever,  possessing 
some  funds  were  often  able  to  make  an  agreement  with  one  of 
the  many  farmers  hauling  produce  to  Chicago,  to  transport  their 
•  goods  into  the  interior.  In  such  cases  the  owners  trudged 
1  along  mile  after  mile  to  their  destinations.  The  Bishop  Hill 
colonists  are  said  to  have  travelled  the  entire  distance  from 
Chicago  to  Henry  county  on  foot,  and  some  even  came  from 
New  York  in  the  same  way.  In  the  summer  the  roads  were 
good  but  during  the  spring,  before  the  sun  had  dried  up  the 
moisture,  they  were  in  wretched  condition. 

In  early  days  thousands  of  settlers  had  come  to  the  West  on 

river  steamers.     Illinois,   although  situated  in  the  very  heart 

\  of  the  interior,  has  exceptional  advantages  for  navigation.     Its 

^A  boundaries  measure  eleven  hundred  and  sixty  miles  and  more 

than  eight  hundred  and  fifty  miles  of  this  extent  is  made  up  of 

navigable  waters.63 

The  first  attempt  to  navigate  the  western  rivers  by  the  aid  of 
steam  was  made  in  181164  and  in  1817  the  first  steamboat  to- 
touch  a  port  on  the  Upper  Mississippi  reached  St.  Louis.65  Five 
p» -later  Galena,  at  the  extreme  northern  limit, of  the  state 
was  reached.  Previous  to  1811  crafts  of  various  descriptions 
had  been  used  in  river  traffic.  Log  canoes,  pirogues,  large 
enough  to  carry  twelve  or  fifteen  barrels  of  goods,  Kentucky 
boats,  keel-boats,  eighty  feet  in  length  with  a  capacity  of  one- 
hundred  barrels,  New  Orleans  boats,  capable  of  transporting 
from  four  hundred  to  five  hundred  barrels  at  a  time,  barges, 
with  a  capacity  of  60,000  pounds,  and  finally  great  rafts  upon1 
which  whole  families  together  with  their  household  goods,  farm- 


02  Evanston  Historical  Society  Proceedings  (1902),  3. 
83  North  American  Review,  51,  113. 
of  the  West,  853. 

St.  Clair  County   (111.).  21,  in  Illinois  Local  Histories,  12,  Wist. 
Hist.  Society  Library. 

[76] 


POOLEY SETTLEMENT    OF    ILLINOIS, 

ing  implements  and  domestic  animals  floated  singly  or  in  groups 
down  the  Ohio  and  the  Mississippi  rivers.66  Occasionally  the 
boats  were  "poled"  back  up  the  river  but  the  rafts  were  broken 
up  and  either  used  for  building  the  homes  of  the  immigrants 
or  were  sold. 

The  keel-boats  were  built  with  the  view  of  protection  from  the 
Indians  as  well  as  for  carrying  large  loads.  Loopholes  lined 
the  heavy  wooden  upper  work  of  the  boats.  Partitions  formed 
four  rooms, — a  cabin  for  the  steward,  a  dining  room,  a  ladies' 
cabin  and  one  for  men.  In  later  days  stoves  were  furnished 
and  rude  berths  were  constructed  along  the  walls.67  Generally 
such  boats  were  manned  by  three  hands,  one  to  act  as  pilot  and 
two  for  rowing.  Occasionally  some  mover,  with  an  idea  of  les- 
sening labor  and  increasing  speed  fitted  up  a  pair  of  side  wheels 
for  his  boat.  These  were  kept  in  motion  by  horses  walking  in 
a  treadmill.  Mention  is  made  of  such  a  boat,  seventy-five 
tons  .burden,  making  the  trip  all  the  way  from  the  Muskingum 
in  Ohio  to  Winnebago  county,  Illinois,  in  1839.  It  carried  a 
typical  immigrant  load,  eighteen  persons,  besides  horses,  cattle, 
swine,  geese,  ducks,  chickens  and  farming  utensils  of  all  sorts 
from  wagons  to  hoe  handles.  Beds,  bedding,  household  furniture, 
wearing  apparel  and  a  full  year's  stock  of  provisions  were  also 
in  the  cargo.68 

Down  all  the  streams  which  fed  the  Ohio  and  especially 
those  leading  from  the  lumber  district  of  Pennsylvania  and 
New  York  floated  immense  rafts  of  lumber.  Often  two  or  three 
were  lashed  together  to  make  the  trip  which  as  a  rule  occupied 
from  three  to  four  weeks.  The  immigrants  in  order  to  make 
themselves  as  comfortable  as  possible  on  the  voyage  erected  rude 
shanties  which  served  for  parlor,  kitchen,  bedroom  and  store- 
'  house.  Outside  on  the  walls  of  the  cabin  could  be  seen  all  kinds 
of  sporting  apparatus,  dried  meats,  and  every  variety  of  men's 
and  women's  wearing  apparel.  Occasionally  a  string  of  drying 
clothes  stretched  along  the  raft  suggested  the  dooryard  of  a 
cabin  rather  than  a  floating  village.  Domestic  animals  and 


88  See  Schultz,  Travels,  1,  129-133,   for  early  river  navigation ;  also  Hulburt, 
Historic  Highways,  &. 

«7  The  Americans  as  They  Are,  53. 
**  Miners'  Free  Press,  May  14,  1839. 

[77] 


364  BULLETIN    OF    THE    UNIVERSITY    OF    WISCONSIN 

poultry  mixed  with  ploughs,  wagons  and  other  agricultural  im- 
plements took  up  the  remaining  room.  So  equipped,  the  movers 
floated  down  the  river  and  if  by  good  fortune  they  avoided  the 
numerous  snags  and  sandbars,  in  due  time  they  reached  the 
mouth  of  the  Ohio  where  more  strenuous  labor  commenced,  for 
the  raft  must  be  "poled"  to  St.  Louis,  the  distributing  point 
of  the  Upper  Mississippi.  These  rafts  were  broken  up  here  and 
often  brought  the  owner  between  five  and  fifteen  thousand  dol- 
lars according  to  the  size.69 

"When  in  1811  The  Orleans  went  steaming  down  the 


from  Pittsburg  and  when  six  years  later  the  Washington  con- 
vinced a  despairing  public  that  steamboat  navigation  would 
succeed  on  western  waters,  the  new  era  in  western  history 
dawned."70  In  1830  two  hundred  and  thirty  steamboats  were 
navigating  the  Mississippi  ;71  by  1840  the  number  had  increased 
to  four  hundred  and  fifty.72  In  1850  this  river  commerce  was 
valued  at  $550,000,000.73  Lines  of  boats  operated  on  the  Wa- 
bash  and  on  the  Illinois  terminating  at  St.  Louis,  also  between 
Galena  and  St.  Louis. 

The  first  steamboats  were  not  well  fitted  for  river  navigation. 
The  builders  had  copied  the  models  adapted  to  deep  water 
navigation  and  as  a  result  nearly  all  the  boats  drew  too  much 
water,  becoming  useless  during  the  later  summer  months  when 
the  rivers  were  at  a  low  stage.  Owing  to  the  patent  held  by 
Fulton  on  side-wheel  steamers  the  stern  wheel  was  adopted. 
Since  the  boats  were  very  light  in  construction,  many  accidents 
occurred  from  'snags.'  Explosions,  too,  were  frequent  owing 
to  defective  boilers  and  carelessness  upon  the  part  of  the  oper- 
ators. Two  or  three  miles  an  hour74  was  the  average  rate  of 
speed  against  the  current  and  in  1820  six  or  eight  miles  was 
considered  exceptional.75 

Many  were  the  difficulties  encountered  by  the  pioneer  steam- 
boats and  many  were  the  inconveniences  experienced  by  the  trav- 


69  Jones,  Illinois  and  the  West,  35 ;  Howells,  Recollections  of  Life  in  Ohio,  85. 
ZSJLulfciirt,  Historic  Highways,  9,  101. 

71  Nilcs'  Register,  64,  124. 

72  Memorial  of  the  People  of  Cincinnati  (1844),  13. 

73  De  Bow,  Industrial  Resources,  2,  400. 

74  HoweMs,  Recollections  of  Life  in  Ohio,  74. 

75  Emigrants'  and  Travelers'  Guide  through  the  Mississippi  Valley,  341. 

[78] 


V 


POOLEY SETTLEMENT    OF    ILLINOIS,    1830-50  365 

/ 

elers.  A  voyage  up  the  Mississippi  is  vividly  described,  but' 
probably  in  an  overdrawn  manner,  by  one  who  made  the  trip 
in  1832.  "This  hour,"  he  says,  "you  get  upon  a  sand-bank, 
the  next  you  are  nearly  snagged — driftwood  in  the  river  breaks 
your  paddle — the  pilot  is  found  to  be  a  toper — the  engineer  an' 
ignoramus — the  steward  an  economist — the  captain  a  gambler — 
the  black  fireman  insurgent  and  the  deck  passenger  riotous. 
This  moment  you  have  too  little  steam  and  hardly  advance 
against  the  current;  another,  too  much  and  the  boat  trembles 
with  the  tremendous  force  exerted  by  the  power  that  impels 
her.  To  complete  your  dismay  the  captain  agrees  to  take  a 
disabled  steamboat,  or  a  couple  of  heavily  laden  barges  in  tow 
for  the  next  four  or  five  hundred  miles."76 

The  amount  of  travel  on  the  large  boats  was  great  indeed. 
A  boat  of  five  hundred  tons  often  carried  one  hundred  cabin  \ 
passengers  and  five  hundred  deck  passengers  besides  four  hun- 
dred tons  of  freight,  making  it  a  world  in  miniature.  "In  the 
cabin  you  will  find  ladies  and  gentlemen  of  various  claims  to 
merit;  on  the  forward  part  of  the  boat  the  sailors,  deck-hands 
and  those  sons  of  Vulcan — the  firemen — possessing  striking 
traits  of  character  and  full  of  noise  and  song  and  too  often  of 
whiskey;  whilst  above  in  the  deck  cabin  there  is  everything 
which  may  be  called  human — all  sorts  of  men  and  women,  of 
all  trades,  from  all  parts  of  the  world,  of  all  possible  manners 
and  habits.  There  is  the  half-horse  and  half-alligator  Ken:_____ 
tneky  boatman,  swaggering  and  boasting  of  his  prowess,  his 
rifle,  his  horse  and  his  wife.  One  is  sawing  away  on  his  wretched 
old  fiddle  all  day  long;  another  is  grinding  a  knife  or  razor; 
here  is  a  party  playing  cards;  and  in  yonder  corner  is  a  dance 
to  the  sound  of  the  Jew 's  harp ;  whilst  a  f e'w  are  trying  to  de- 
mean themselves  soberly  by  sitting  in  silence  or  reading  a  book. 
But  it  is  almost  impossible — the  wondrous  tale  and  the  horrible 
Indian  story  are  telling;  the  bottle  and  the  jug  are  freely  cir- 
culating; and  the  boisterous  and  deafening  laugh  is  incessantly 
raised,  sufficient  to  banish  every  vestige  of  seriousness  and 
thought  and  sense.  A  friend  of  mine  some  time  ago  went  down 
from  Cincinnati  to  New  Orleans  on  board  the  steamboat 


78  Latrobe,  Rambles  in  North  America,  1,  224. 

[79] 


366  BULLETIN    OF    THE    UNIVERSITY    OF    WISCONSIN 

*  *  *  which  carried  fifty  cabin  passengers ;  one  or  two  hun- 
dred deck  passengers;  one  negro  driver  with  his  gang  of  ne- 
groes; a  part  of  a  company  of  soldiers;  a  menagerie  of  wild 
"beasts;  a  whole  circus,  and  a  company  of  play  actors."77  Ger- 
man and  Irish  immigrants  composed  the  greater  number  of  the 
deck  passengers.  Exposed  to  the  inclemencies  of  the  weather 
many  of  these  people  were  taken  ill  and  on  almost  every  voyage, 
up  the  river  especially  from  the  ports  of  the  extreme  south  it  was 
a  common  occurrence  for  some  of  these  immigrants  to  fall  vic- 
tims to  exposure.  An  exceptional  case  is  noted  in  Niles'  Regis- 
ter where  on  one  trip  eighteen  passengers  died  from  illness  con- 
tracted through  inadequate  accommodations.78 

The  cabin  passengers  enjoyed  more  comforts  it  seems,  but  ac- 
counts  given  by  travelers  are  far  from  agreeing  on  this  point. 
One  account  says,  "the  American  steamboats  are  in  the  point 
of  elegance  superior  to  those  of  other  nations,  and  none  but  the 
English  are  able  to  compete  with  them.  The  furniture,  car- 
pets, beds,  etc.,  are  thought  elegant  and  in  good  condition. 
..  .  .  The  fare  is  excellent  and  the  breakfasts,  dinners  and 
suppers  are  provided  with  such  a  multiplicity  of  dishes  and 
-even  dainties  as  would  satisfy  the  most  refined  appetite.  The 
beverage  consists  of  rum,  gin,  brandy  and  claret  to  be  taken  at 
pleasure  during  meals ;  but  out  of  that  time  they  are  to  be  paid 
for."79  Still  another  writer  tells  of  Brussels  carpets,  chande- 
liers, armchairs,  rocking  chairs,  mirrors  and  libraries  and  some- 
times pianos  on  the  Mississippi  river  boats.80  Such  descriptions, 
however,  seem  to  be  a  little  too  brightly  colored  if  we  consider 
the  impressions  of  western  travelers  during  the  thirties. 
I  "Happy  he  whose  foresight  has  secured  to  him  all  the  enjoy- 
ment of  the  luxury  of  his  own  clean  towels  as  none  but  the  dis- 
agreeable alternative  of  drying  his  person  by  the  heat  of  the 
stove  can  be  the  fate  of  him  who  has  not  done  thisy  As  to 
making  use  of  the  common  articles  hung  up  for  the  accommoda- 
tion of  some  thirty  citizens  in  rotation  no  one  can  be  termed 
..  .  .  delicate  for  avoiding  that,"81  says  one. 

77  Emigrants'  and  Travelers'  Guide  through  the  Mississippi  Valley,  342. 

78  Files'  Register,  46,  361. 

79  The  Americans  as  They  Are,  106. 

80  New  York  Weekly  Tribune,  June  17,  1843. 
-*  Latrobe,  Rambles  in  North  America,  1,  221. 

[80] 


POOLEY SETTLEMENT    OF    ILLINOIS,    1830-50  367 

An  Illinois  river  steamboat  of  1838  was  described  in  a  no  less 
slighting  manner.  ''There  was  but  one  bedroom  candlestick  on 
board  and  this  was  made  with  one  candle  to  serve  the  four 
ladies'  state-rooms  in'  turn,  one  being  obliged  to  go  to  bed, 
.  .  .  the  candle  being  then  passed  on  to  another.  .  .  . 
Of  towels  also  there  was  but  one,  which  had  to  go  the  round 
from  cabin  to  cabin  in  the  same  way ;  and  the  whole  equipment 
in  furniture,  fare  and  attendance  was  upon  the  same  starved, 
stinted  and  miserable  footing."82 

The  rules  governing  the  actions  of  passengers  were  printed, 
framed  and  hung  in  a  conspicuous  place.  The  gentlemen  were 
forbidden  to  go  to  the  table  without  coats  or  in  any  garb  which 
would  disturb  the  company,  neither  should  they  enter  the  ladies' 
state-room  without  the  consent  of  the  ladies.  Gentlemen  were 
not  to  lie  upon  the  beds  with  their  boots  or  shoes  on;  they 
were  not  to  smoke  cigars  in  the  state-room;  neither  were  they 
to  play  cards  after  ten  o'clock,  nor  at  any  time  engage  in  con- 
versation with  the  pilot.  Marking  on  the  furniture  with  a  pen- 
cil or  anything  else  which  would  disfigure  it  'was  also  mentioned 
among  the  things  not  to  be  indulged  in.  Any  transgression  of 
the  above  named  rules  was  punishable  by  a  fine  for  the  first 
offense;  for  the  second,  the  transgressor  was  sent  ashore.83 

In  one  point  discipline  seems  to  have  been  lax.  Gambling  on 
board  the  boats  was  prevalent  to  a  marked  degree.  Not  only 
did  the  ordinary  passengers  indulge,  but  there  were  gangs  of  pro- 
fessional gamblers  who  infested  the  principal  towns  from  Pitts- 
burg  to  New  Orleans  and  constantly  traveled  up  and  down  the 
river  fleecing  all  whom  they  were  able  to  entice  into  games.84 
Murder,  too,  seems  to  have  been  no  uncommon  occurence  if  we 
are  to  believe  the  current  statements.85 

In  1831  a  passage  from  Beaver,  Pennsylvania  to  Cincinnati, 
by  steamboat  was  twelve  dollars;  to  Louisville,  sixteen  dollars; 
to  Shawneetown,  twenty-two  dollars  and  to  St.  Louis,  thirty-one 
dollars.  From  Philadelphia  to  St.  Louis  by  stage  and  steam- 


82  Buckingham,  Eastern  and  Western  States  of  America,  3,  207. 

83  The  Americans  as  They  Are,  106 ;  Steele,  A  Summer  Journey  in  the  West,  155. 
M  Emigrants'  and  Travelers'  Guide  Through  the  Mississippi  Valley,  343. 

85  Miles'  Register,  54,  388. 


[81] 


368  BULLETIN    OF    THE    UNIVEKSITY    OP    WISCONSIN 

boat  the  cost,  including  meals,  was  about  fifty-five  dollars ;  from 
New  Orleans  to  St.  Louis,  thirty  dollars;  from  St.  Louis  to 
'  Beardstown  on  the  Illinois  river,  six  dollars;  to  Quincy,  six 
dollars  and  to  Galena,  twelve  dollars.  Deck  passage  was  much 
cheaper.  From  Beaver  to  Louisville  cost  four  dollars;  from 
Louisville  to  St.  Louis,  three  dollars;  from  New  Orleans  to  St. 
Louis,  eight  dollars  and  from  St.  Louis  to  Quincy  and  Galena 
two  dollars  and  three  dollars  respectively.86 

Prices  were  gradually  lowered.  By  1834  a  traveler  could 
procure  cabin  passage  from  New  Orleans  to  Pittsburg  for  be- 
tween thirty-five  and  forty-five  dollars  and  deck  passage  for  be- 
tween ten  and  twelve  dollars.87  In  1837  the  "Western  Trans- 
portation Line  operating  between  Philadelphia  and  St.  Louis 
by  way  of  Pittsburg,  Cincinnati  and  Louisville  charged  the  fol- 
lowing rates:  To  Pittsburg  cost  six  dollars  and  the  time  for 
the  trip  was  six  and  one-half  days ;  to  Cincinnati,  eight  and  one- 
half  dollars,  time  eight  and  one-half  days;  to  Louisville,  nine 
dollars,  time  nine  and  one-half  days  and  to  St.  Louis,  a  distance 
of  seventeen  hundred  and  fifty  miles,  the  cost  was  thirteen  dol- 
lars and  the  time  of  travel,  fourteen  days.  Packets  which  re- 
duced the  time  cost  more.  The  company  charged  seventeen 
dollars  to  Cincinnati,  nineteen  dollars  to  Louisville  and  twenty- 
seven  dollars  to  St.  Louis.88 

After  1840  from  New  York  to  Cincinnati  cost  only  twelve 
dollars;  to  Louisville,  thirteen  dollars;  to  St.  Louis,  fourteen 
dollars  and  to  Galena,  sixteen  dollars.89  Meals  were  not  in- 
cluded. Their  average  cost  was  thirty-seven  and  one-half  cents 
each.80  Stage  travel  cost  six  cents  per  mile.91  Deviations  from 
these  prices  were  often  made  when  a  party  consisting  of  a  large 
family  or  number  of  families  desired  passage  to  one  place.92 

The  rates  for  the  transportation  of  goods  were  in  accordance 
with  prices  of  travel.  Sixty-two  and  one-half  cents  per  hun- 


•«  Illinois  Monthly  Magazine,  2,  52. 

87  Emigrants'  and  Travelers'  Guide  through  the  Mississippi  Valley,  341. 

M  Illinois  in  1837,  67. 

89  Kapp,  European  Emigration  to  the  United  States,  70. 

«*  Mitchell,  Sketchbook  of  Illinois,  27. 

81  lUd. 

«  A ties'  Register,  48,  242. 


[82] 


POOLEY SETTLEMENT    OF    ILLINOIS,    1830-50          ,'369 

dred  weight  was  the  customary  charge  from  New  Orleans  to  St. 
Louis;  to  Cincinnati  it  was  about  seventy  cents  and  to  Pitts- 
burg  between  seventy-five  cents  and  one  dollar.  Down  stream 
charges  were  less;  thirty  cents  per  hundred  weight  for  dry 
goods  was  the  cost  from  Pittsburg  to  Cincinnati ;  three  and  one- 
half  dollars  per  ton  for  iron  goods  for  the  same  destination.98 
To  other  points  proportionate  charges  were  made.  i^ 

The  Ohio  river  route  was  one  of  the  great  highways  to  the 
West  during  the  period  1830  to  1850.  Some  idea  of  the  volume 
of  travel  down  this  river  may  be  had  by  an  examination  of  the 
newspapers  published  in  the  towns  along  the  river.  The  Cin- 
cinnati Mirror  of  September  6,  1834  says:  "We  are  so  com- 
pletely overrun  by  emigrants  or  movers  with  carriages,  wagons, 
cattle,  horses,  dogs  and  sheep  that  we  are  compelled  to  speak. 
Our  streets  are  a  moving  mass  of  living  men,  women,  children 
and  everything  joyously  wending  their  way  to  their  new  habi- 
tations." During  the  next  decade  the  tide  had  in  nowise  dimin- 
ished. "The  number  of  emigrants  who  have  left  this  city," 
says  the  Cincinnati  Gazette,  "for  the  northern  part  of  Illinois 
and  Iowa  Territory  by  the  way  of  St.  Louis,  as  we  are  informed 
by  the  officers  of  the  boats,  has  been  unusually  large  this  season. 
Boats  leave  our  landing  almost  daily,  crowded  with  substantial 
emigrants  from  the  back  country  with  their  live  stock  and  farm- 
ing apparatus  bent  upon  seeking  their  fortunes  in  the  West."9* 

In  the  thirties  the  guide  books  published  for  the  use  of  im- 
migrants to  the  West  frequently  advised  those  intending  to 
move  to  do  so  in  wagons.  The  expense  was  less  than  by  other 
methods.  Live  stock  could  be  moved  with  less  difficulty  and  if 
occasion  required  the  lighter  goods  only  would  be  taken  in 
wagons  and  the  heavier  and  bulkier  farming  implements  sent 
over  the  Lakes  or  down  the  Ohio.  Sometimes  furniture  was 
sent  from  New  England  all  the  way  to/ Illinois  by  water,  going 
down  the  coast,  around  by  New  Orleans  and  up  the  Mississippi.9* 
In  these  cases  someone  generally  made  the  trip  that  way  to 
look  after  the  goods. 


*3  Emigrants'  and  Travelers'  Guide  Through  the  Mississippi  Valley,  357. 
M  Cincinnati  Gazette,  April  21,  1842. 

SB  Stories   of  the  Pioneer  Mothers   of  Illinois.     (Mrs.   Julia   Wolcott   Carter's 
•tory.     M88.  in  Illinois  Historical  Library.) 

[83] 


A 


.370  BULLETIN    OF    THE    UNIVERSITY    OF    WISCONSIN 

Prior  to  1830  the  ox-cart  was  much  used  for  transportation 
"by  those  taking  land  routes  to  the  West.  These  carts  were  not 
built  for  rapid  transit  but  rather  for  capacity.  A  yoke  of  oxen 
hauling  an  enormous  load  generally  lounged  onward  at  the  rate 
of  one  and  one-half  miles  an  hour.  After  1830  wagons  began  to 
be  seen  in  greater  numbers  and  in  the  autumn  months  when 
the  weather  was  mild,  the  roads  dry  and  hard  and  the  rivers 
fordable,  after  the  crops  .of  the  year  had  been  gathered  and 
sold,  and  when  the  cattle  were  fat  and  in  good  traveling  condi- 
tion, wagon'  after  wagon,  caravan  after  caravan  could  be  seen 
rattling  along  the  roads  to  the  West. 

All  along  the  highways  of  travel  the  newspapers  made  occa- 
sional note  of  parties  of  more  than  ordinary  size.  From  these 
articles  we  are  best  able  to  gain  an  idea  of  the  volume  of  west- 
ward travel  by  means  of  land  conveyances.  "On  the  27th  ult., 
quite  a  caravan  of  the  hardy  sons  of  Pennsylvania  passed 
through  this  city  on  their  way  to  Stephenson  county,  Illinois. 
There  were  fourteen  wagons  and  sixty-one  persons."96  Again, 
"on  Thursday  the  15th  inst.,  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  per- 
sons passed  through  this  place  southward,  emigrating  to  Illinois 
or  perhaps  to  Missouri.  They  had  their  plunder  in  twenty-two 
or  twenty-three  wagons."97  One  man  traveling  through  In- 
diana towards  Vincennes  counted  four  hundred  emigrants' 
wagons  within  a  distance  of  fifty-five  miles.98  The  Wheeling 
Times  in  1839  speaks  of  the  unprecedented  amount  of  travel  by 
wagons  passing  through  the  town.99  Numerous  other  news- 
paper extracts  to  the  same  effect  can  be  found.  It  seems  prob- 
able that  those  people  living  at  any  great  distance  from  the 
great  waterways  used  wagons  in  traveling  westward.  This  is 
especially  true  among  the  fanners.  There  is,  ho'wever,  no  way 
of  determining  what  percentage  used  this  method  of  travel  in 
preference  to  the  water  routes. 

The  vehicles  were  of  every  kind;  sometimes  no  vehicle  was 
used,  for  many  a  man  traveled  the  whole  way  from  the  East  on 


»«  Madison  Express,  July  27,  1843.     (Extract  from  the  Michigan  City  Gazette.) 
"  Chicago  Weekly  Democrat,  June  18,  1834. 
98  Niles'  Register,  47,  163. 
"Madison  Enquirer,  June  8,  1839. 

[84] 


POOLEY SETTLEMENT    OF    ILLINOIS,    1830-50  S7l 

•oot.  "Sometimes  the  light  wagons  containing  the  possessions 
of  the  movers  were  drawn  by  the  people  themselves,  the  head  of 
the  family  between  the  shafts  of  the  wagon,  harnessed  with  a 
collar  and  traces,  while  the  rest  of  the  family  according  to  their 
strength  pulled  with  ropes  attached  to  various  parts  of  the  ve- 
hicle.100 

The  pioneers  from  Pennsylvania,  Ohio  and  the  southern 
states  betrayed  their  nativity  and  prejudice  in  the  schooner- 
shaped  wagon  box,  the  stiff  tongue,  the  hind  wheels  double  the 
size  of  the  forward  ones  and  closely  coupled  together,  the  whole 
drawn  by  a  team  of  four  or  six  horses  guided  by  a  single  line 
in  the  hands  of  the  teamster  riding  the  nigh  wheeler.  The  har- 
ness was  of  gigantic  proportions ;  the  massive  leather  breeching, 
the  heavy  harness  and  collar,  the  immense  housing  of  bearskin 
upon  the  harness,  the  heavy  iron  trace  chains,  and  the  ponder- 
ous double-tree  and  whiffle-trees  all  made  a  striking  picture. 

The  New  Yorker  and  immigrant  from  farther  east,  was 
marked  as  far  as  his  caravan  could  be  seen  by  a  long  coupled,, 
low  boxed,  two  horse  wagon  provided  with  a  seat,  from  which 
with  double  lines  the  driver  guided  his  lightly  harnessed  pair 
of  horses.101  Occasionally  the  old  'steamboat'  wagons  were 
seen,  bearing  some  resemblance  to  the  crooked,  heavy  wagons, 
used  by  the  people  from  the  southern  states. 

The  contents  of  the  immigrant  wagons  were  astonishing  in- 
deed in  amount  as  well  as  variety  of  articles.  A  glance  under 
the  canvas  covering  disclosed  a  startling  array  of  baggage — if 
"women,  guns,  rifles,  boys,  girls,  babies  -and  other  nick-nacks "10* 
may  be  called  baggage.  Below  on  the  axles  of  the  wagons 
dangled  pots  and  kettles  of  all  forms  and  sizes.  Sometimes 
dogs  and  even  cats  were  included  among  the  movables  of  the 
immigrating  families.  To  the  Yankee  mover,  a  plough,  a  bed,  a 
barrel  of  salt  meat,  a  supply  of  tea  and  molasses,  a  Bible  and  a 
wife  were  the  indispensable  articles.103 

In  front  of  these  westward  moving  caravans  rode  the  older 


100  Niles'  Register,  22,  320. 

101  History  of  Grundy  County  (III.),  149. 

102  Niles'  Register,  52,  240. 

108  Chevalier,  Society,  Manners  and  Politics  in  the  United  States,  112. 

[85] 


372  BULLETIN"    OF    THE    UNIVERSITY    OF    WISCONSIN 

sons  and  sometimes  the  daughters.  Their  duties  were  chiefly  to 
attend  to  the  driving  of  such  domestic  animals  as  had  been, 
brought  along.  Sometimes  a  considerable  amount  of  live  stock 
was  driven  along  by  the  movers — one  family  came  with  five 
hundred  sheep,  another  man  drove  one  hundred  and  fifty  hogs 
but  as  a  general  rule  a  few  horses  and  cows,  several  sheep  and 
hogs  made  up  the  wealth  of  the  pioneer. 

Mr.  Howells  in  his  book  on  pioneer  life  in  Ohio  gives  an  amus- 
ing description  of  the  difficulties  experienced  in  driving  the 
domestic  animals — "to  start  off  with  a  mixed  drove  of  animals 
was  no  trifling  affair,  for,  though  they  would  drive  pretty  well 
after  getting  used  to  the  road  and  a  day  or  two's  experience,  their 
obstinacy  and  contrarity  at  first  was  without  parallel,  and  a 
boy  to  each  animal  was  little  enough.  First  a  pig  would  dart 
back  and  run  like  a  deer  till  he  was  headed  and  turned,  by  which 
time  the  others  would  meet  him  and  all  have  to  be  driven  up ; 
while  in  the  meantime  a  cow  or  two  would  be  sailing  down  a  by- 
lane  with  elevated  head  and  tail,  and  a  breathless  boy  circling 
through  a  field  or  the  woods  to  intercept  her  career;  and  then 
the  sheep  Would  start  over  a  broken  piece  of  fence,  the  last  fol- 
lowing the  first  and  leaping  higher  over  every  obstacle  till  they 
were  brought  back  to  the  road. '  '104  It  was  not  an  uncommon  oc- 
currence, too,  for  the  horses  to  be  seized  with  sudden  homesick- 
ness during  the  night  and  depart  for  more  familiar  scenes. 

Excessively  warm  weather  and  numerous  flies  sometimes  so 
worried  immigrants  that  they  resorted  to  night  traveling,105 
being  unable  to  make  progress  during  the  day.  When  the 
movers  traveled  in  the  day  time  their  nights  were  passed  in 
camp.  If  a  number  of  families  were  traveling  together,  when 
night  came  the  wagons  were  grouped  in  a  neighborly  fashion 
in  a  convenient  spot  where  water  and  wood  were  close  at  hand. 
The  fire  was  lighted  and  the  camp  utensils  brought  into  use 
in  the  preparation  of  supper  while  the  men  unharnessed  the 
dusty  horses  and  turned  them  loose  on  the  rich  unfenced 
prairie  pastures.  The  scores  of  happy  children  liberated 


104  Howells,  Recollections  of  Life  in  Ohio,  87. 

105  History  of  Bond  and  Montgomery  Counties,  328. 

[86] 


POOLEY SETTLEMENT    OF    ILLINOIS,    1830-50  373 

from  the  tiresome  day's  journey  romped  through  the  grass  en- 
joying to  their  greatest  capacity  an  unlimited  play  ground. 
Beds  were  made  up  in  the  wagons  and  sometimes  on  the  ground 
when  the  weather  permitted.  In  the  morning  the  bustle  of 
preparation  began,  the  stock  was  rounded  up  and  started  along 
the  road,  horses  harnessed  and  soon  the  work  of  another  day 
had  begun. 

The  progress  of  such  caravans  was  not  rapid,  being  about 
fifteen  miles  a  day.106  From  the  eastern  states  seven107  to 
nine108  weeks  were  consumed  in  making  the  trip  to  Ill- 
inois. Sometimes  heavy  roads  made  the  journey  even  more 
difficult.  The  colony  which  settled  at  Geneseo,  Illinois  in  1836, 
came  along  a  road  through  Michigan  which  was  so  nearly  im- 
passable that  but  seven  miles  were  covered  in  six  days.109 

jd  is  scarcely  possible  to  make  any  estimate  of  value  concern- 
ing the  cost  of  the  overland  travel.  The  equipments  of  the 
pioneers,  the  amount  of  stock  and  the  cost  of  tavern  meals 
varied  greatly.  Occasionally  a  scrap  of  information  is  found 
which  will  serve  as  an  illustration.  A  family  of  eleven  persons 
with  two  wagons,  several  cows  and  five  hundred  sheep  came 
a  distance  of  two  hundred  and  fifty  miles  to  Illinois,  in  twenty- 
one  days  at  a  cost  of  ten  dollars  spent  for  food!110 

In  the  extreme  western  states  taverns  for  the  accommodati 
of  travelers  wtere  not  numerous.  Good  houses  of  entertainment 
were  not  to  be  found  at  all  and  such  taverns  as  there  'were  did 
not  receive  much  patronage  from  the  immigrants  who  generally 
brought  all  their  supplies  with  them.  Tavern  prices  were  regu- 
lated by  the  county  commissioners  court.  Meals  cost  from 
twenty-five  to  thirty-seven  and  one-half  cents;  lodging,  twelve 
and  one-half  cents  a  night.  Horses  were  cared  for  at  a  rate 
of  fifty  to  seventy-five  cents  a  day.111  The  people  who  fre- 
quented these  taverns  were  of  all  classes  and  stations  but  the 


108 History  of  Grundy  County  (III.),  314. 
107  Beckwith,  History  of  Vermilion  County  (111.),  381. 
108, Thirtieth  Anniversary  of  the  Settlement  of  Ocneseo   (111.),  5 
109  Ibid. 

"°Duis,  Gcvd  old  Times  in  McLean  County,  217. 

111  Bent,  History  of  Whiteside  County  (111.),  57;  Perrin,  History  of  Ejftngham 
County  (111.),  40. 


[87] 


BUULETTJf    OF    THE    TTXIVEItSITY    OF 
\.^S 

predominance  of  hunters  and    small    farmers    gave    marked 
frontier  characteristics  to  them. 

Since  the  early  settlers  of  the  state  came  from  all  directions 
in  all  sorts  of  conveyances,  at  all  times  of  the  year,  with  vary- 
ing amounts  of  property  and  at  costs  varying  as  greatly  as  the 
conveyances  used  and  the  roads  traveled,  it  is  extremely  diffi- 
cult to  draw  any  conclusions  save  very  general  ones.  One, 
however,  may  be  reached.  The  settlers  who  located  in  southern 
and  western  Illinois  generally  came  hy  way  of  the  Ohio  and 
Mississippi  rivers;  those  who  settled  in  the  northern  part  of 
the  state,  by  way  of  the  Great  Lakes:  while  the  majority  of 
the  pioneers  of  eastern  Illinois  came  by  wagons  over  no  beaten 
road.  The  migration  to  this  part  of  the  state  is  illustrative 
of  the  simple  agricultural  immigration  which  goes  on  steadily 
and  so  quietly  as  to  attract  little  direct  attention  and  con- 
sequently is  to  be  characterized  with  difficulty. 


[88] 


POOLJSY SETTLE1EEXT    OF    HXIXOIS,    1830-50 


CHAPTER  V 
THE  ILLINOIS  AND  THE  Fox  RIVER  VALLEYS 


Owing  to  the  conditions  which  influenced  the  time  as  well  as 
the  character  and  rapidity  of  settlement  of  this  part  of  the 
state,  the  Illinois  river  valley  is  divided  into  three  parts:  the 
counties  along  the  middle  Illinois,  those  along  the  upper  Illinois 
and  those  in  the  Fox  river  valley.1  The  counties  of  the  middle 
Illinois  river  valley  were  settled  to  quite  an  extent  under  the 
influence  of  the  Sangamon  country  and  much  earlier  than  the 
northern  counties,  both  Tazewell  and  Putnam  counties  having 
organized  local  governments  before  1S30.  In  the  upper  Illinois 
river  counties  the  influence  of  the  Illinois-Michigan  canal  is 
noticeable  both  in  the  character  and  location  of  settlement. 
Likewise  the  influence  of  lake  transportation  was  of  much  im- 
portance in  the  settlement  of  the  Fox  river  valley. 

Although  the  Sangamon  country  was  quite  thickly  settled 
by  1330,  Mason  county,  joining  it  on  the  north,  had  but  few 
settlers  and  not  until  1841  was  it  organized  as  a  county.  During 
the  period  1821-1825  the  county  was  surveyed  and  the  land 
opened  for  settlement;  but  owing  to  the  fact  that  it  was  re- 
garded for  years  as  a  sandy,  barren  waste  fit  only  for  the 
abode  of  hunters  and  others  who  did  not  depend  on  agriculture 
for  a  living,  few  pioneers  came  to  settle  here,  preferring  instead 
to  go  further  towards  the  frontier.5 


1  The  middle  Illinois  counties  are  those  on  the  eastern  side  of  the  tiro-  north 
of  the  Sangamon  river;  Hasan,  Tuewetl,  Woodford.  Marshall  and  Putnam. 
Those  on  the  western  ride  are  included  in  the  Military  Tract.  La  Sail*.  Grundy 
and  Will  counties  are  grouped  under  the  head  of  upper  Illinois  river  counties, 
whfle  in  the  Fox  river  valley  are  the  counties  of  Kendall,  Du  Page,  Kane,  Mc- 
Henry  and  Lake. 

*  T*  itory  cf  ITeMrtf  9*d  JfCMM  COM***,  408. 

[89] 


376 


BULLETIN    OF    THE    UNIVERSITY    OF    WISCONSIN 


©  Cities  of  more  than  2,000. 
Towns  of  less  than  2,000. 
Villages. 


ILLINOIS  AND  Fox  RIVEE  VALLEYS  (1850) 

Section  west  of  the  prairie  line  is  more  than  20  per  cent,  woodland.     Year  indi- 
cates date  of  county  organization. 


[90] 


POOLEY SETTLEMENT    OF    ILLINOIS,    1830-50  377 

Havana,  dating  from  1832,  seems  to  have  been  the  most  im- 
portant settlement  of  early  days.  Its  growth  must  have  been 
very  slow,  since  six  years  elapsed  before  the  building  of  the 
first  house.3  After  1834  groups  of  Canadians4  and  Germans5 
settled  here,  who,  by  1850  formed  a  large  part  of  the  settlement 
which  was  still  the  most  important  one  in  the  county.  In  other 
parts  settlements  grew  no  faster  until  after  1840.6 

The  character  of  the  settlements  sho'ws  the  influence  of  loca- 
tion. An  examination  of  nativities  brings  out  the  fact  that 
the  greater  number  of  the  early  settlers  came  from  Kentucky, 
Tennessee  and  Virginia,  although  New  England  and  the  Middle 
Atlantic  States  had  numerous  representatives.  There  were  also 
settlers  who  came  from  Indiana  and  from  the  older  counties 
of  Illinois.  Of  the  foreigners  present,  Germans  were  in  the 
majority.  The  timbered  parts  of  the  county  were  taken  up 
first  by  the  Kentuckians  and  Tennesseeans  and  when,  during 
the  period  of  speculation  just  previous  to  the  financial  panic 
of  1837,  the  New  Englanders1  and  the  settlers  from  the  Middle 
States  came,  they  were  compelled  to  take  up  the  unoccupied  ter- 
ritory which  generally  meant  the  small  prairies.  More  rapid 
gro'wth  took  place  during  the  forties  and  in  1850  there  were 
5,900  settlers  in  the  county.7 

Tazewell  county  which  was  organized  in  1827,8  had  4,700 
settlers  by  1830,9  most  of  them  being  pioneers  of  the  type  most 
frequently  found  in  the  hardwood  districts  of  the  middle  West. 
"While  immigrants  came  in  steadily  during  these  years,  it  was 
after  1830  that  the  most  rapid  increase  came. 

In  1836  Tremont  in  the  central  part  of  the  county  was  es- 
tablished by  a  N^ew_England  colony.  Jones  in  his  Illinois  and 
the  West  (1838)  gives  a  decidedly  favorable  description  of  the 
town,  saying  that  it  was  beautifully  laid  off  with  wide  streets 
and  a  public  square  around  which  were  arranged  the  business 


3  Ibid.,  520. 
« IUd.,  411. 
*IUd.,  509. 

6  Bath,  Masoa  City,  Allen's  Grove,  Crane  Creek  and  other  places  each  claimed 
a  few  settlers. 

''Seventh  Censtna  (1850),  702. 

8  Historical  Encyclopedia,  of  Illinois,  355. 

'Seventh  Census  (1850),  702. 

[91] 


378  BULLETIN    OF    THE    UNIVERSITY    OF    WISCONSIN 

houses.  The  frame  houses  which  composed  most  of  the  dwel- 
lings of  the  town  were  painted  'white,  giving  the  village  a  very- 
neat  appearance.  Three-fourths  of  the  population  were  Ne*w 
Englanders,  which  probably  accounts  for  the  orderly  appear- 
ance of  the  village.10 

A  colony  of  importance  was  established  in  1837  at  Delavan 
in  the  southern  part  of  the  county,  being  the  result  of  the  ef- 
forts of  a  company  of  enterprising  Rhode  Island  farmers.  Like 
other  companies  of  the  time  it  was  a  stock  company  with  a 
capital  of  $44,000.  An  agent  sent  to  Illinois  purchased 
23,000  acres  of  land  for  the  company  and,  to  the  great  surprise 
of  all,  located  the  tract  upon  the  open  prairie,  at  that  time  an 
unheard  of  proceeding.  Not  a  bush  or  a  tree  was  in  sight  but 
nevertheless  the  proprietors  seemed  well  satisfied  with  the  choice 
and  families  immediately  began  to  come  in. 
.  For  a  time  they  were  lodged  in  the  common  home  which  was 
the  first  building  erected  in  the  town  of  Delavan.  The  erection 
of  such  houses  seems  to  have  been  a  rule  among  the  companies 
sending  colonies  to  the  "West  and  probably  the  idea  was  to  guard 
against  discouragement  of  the  new  settlers  and  alleviate  the 
hardships  attendant  upon  the  opening  up  of  a  new  country. 
When  the  settlers  were  desirous  of  making  homes  for  them- 
Xsselves  at  the  earliest  possible  date  such  an  arrangement  certainly 
must^have  been  advantageous,  but  should  any  be  inclined  to 
live  at  the  company's  expense  this  convenience  must  have  been 
abused.  No  time  limit  appears  to  have  been  placed  upon  the 
stay  in  the  common  home  but  probably  such  a  safe-guard  was 
provided. 

One  point  of  the  contract  signed  by  the  members  of  the  com- 
pany deserves  mention  as  something  out  of  the  ordinary.  No 
ardent  spirits  were  ever  to  be  brought  into  the  town  and  sold 
or  used  as  drink.11  This  clause  also  appears  in  the  laws  of  the 
Rockwell  colony  in  La  Salle  county.12 

Still  another  colony  was  founded  in  Tazewell  at  this  time, 
at  Mackinaw  on  the  south  side  of  the  Mackinaw  stream.  As 


10  Jones,  Illinois  and  the  West,  72. 

11  The  New  Yorker,  Aug.  31,  1839. 

12  Ibid.,  Aug.  20,  1836. 


[92] 


POOLEY SETTLEMENT    OF    ILLINOIS,    1830-50  379 

in  the  case  of  the  Delavan  colony,  a  common  house  was  first 
erected  and  in  1838  was  occupied  by  several  families  who  were 
waiting  for  the  completion  of  their  homes.13 

Washington,  in  the  northern  part  of  the  county  and  Pekin 
on  the  Illinois  river  were  the  other  important  villages  in  1840,  , 
the  latter  being  a  typical  western  town,  with  flouring  mills,  ; 
saw  mills  and  pork  packing  industry.     To  some  extent  it  was 
the  point  of  contact  between  the  back  country  and  the  outer 
world,  gaining  by  advantage  of  location  such  commerce  as  the 
demands  of  the  settlers  increased.  Other  settlements  brought  up 
the  number  of  inhabitants  to  7,200  in  1840.14 

During  the  early  years  of  the  succeeding  decade  the  increase 
in  population  was  slow,  owing  to  financial  depression,  but  after 
1845  the  number  of  settlers  coming  to  the  county  gradually  in- 
creased. The  number  of  southern  immigrants  decreased  and 
that  of  northerners  increased  but  the  growth  of  population  was 
not  rapid,  probably  on  account  of  the  opening  to  settlement  of 
the  northern  and  eastern  counties  of  the  state.  The  gain  in 
population  had  been  about  4,000  since  1840  and  the  county  now 
had  a  population  of  over  12,000,15  with  three  towns,  Pekin, 
Tremont  and  Washington  of  some  importance. 

Judging  from  the  small  number  of  towns  and  from  the  fac£ 
that  but  one,  Pekin,  had  over  a  thousand  inhabitants  it  seems 
safe  to  conclude  that  the  population  was  an  agricultural  one. 
Small  streams  with  timbered  banks  traversed  the  county,  of- 
fering an  ideal  country  for  the  agricultural  pioneers  who,  by 
1850,  had  placed  under  cultivation  almost  73,000  acres  of  the 
land.  There  still  remained  uncultivated  some  92,000  acres, 
nearly  all  of  which  was  back  from  the  rivers,  a'way  from  the 
timber.16 

Settlers  began  to  come  to  Woodford  county  in  1819  and  by 
1830  some  forty-five  arrivals,  chiefly  from  Kentucky,  Tennessee, 
Ohio  and  Indiana  had  been  received.  In  1832,  owing  to  the 
Indian  troubles,  Woodford  did  not  increase  rapidly,  since  the 
county  was  on  the  extreme  frontier  and  not  ;well  protected 


13  Western  Pioneer,  May  18,  1838. 

"Seventh  Census  (1850),  702. 

15  Seventh  Census  (1850),  702. 

18  Peyton,  Statistical  View  of  Illinois,  13. 

[93] 


380  BULLETIN    OF    THE    TJNIVEKSITY    OF    WISCONSIN 

against  Indian  raids.  Up  to  1850  Metamora  was  the  most  im- 
portant settlement.  In  1835  a  company  of  settlers  from  Han- 
over, New  Hampshire,  had  settled  here  giving  the  name  Hanover 
to  their  village.  They  were  as  welcome  to  the  Kentuckians  then 
living  in  the  county  "as  a  band  of  Hottentots."  In  1843  the 
village  became  the  county  seat  and  the  name  was  changed  to 
Metamora.  In  this  year  the  first  store  was  built.17 

The  settlements  in  the  county  during  the  period  from  1831 
to  1850  were  numerous  but  small,  composed  of  little  groups  of 
settlers  who  built  their  cabins  on  the  edge  of  the  timber  and 
enclosed  enough  prairie  land  for  cultivation.  The  eastern  part 
or  the  prairie  district  of  the  county  was  not  settled  for  several 
years  after  1850  and  then  only  by  the  aid  of  the  railroads,1* 
and  it  is  safe  to  say  that  of  the  36,000  acres  of  land  under 
cultivation  in  185019  the  greater  portion  was  in  the  western 
part  of  the  county  near  the  river. 

In  character  of  its  settlers,  Woodford  county  was  typical  of 
the  counties  of  the  Middle  Illinois  Valley.  Almost  before  the 
Kentuckians  and  Tennesseeans  were  comfortably  settled  upon 
their  little  farms  on  the  borders  of  the  timber  lands  Virginians, 
Carolinians,  New  Yorkers,  Pennsylvanians  and  others  were 
crowding  in  also.  Men  of  all  classes,  nationalities  and  stations 
met  here.  There  were  men  who  had  been  with  Napoleon  at 
Austerlitz;  who  had  followed  him  on  his  ill-fated  Russian  ex- 
pedition; exiled  Poles;  Bavarians;  men  who  had  sat  in  the 
legislatures  of  conservative  New  England ;  abolitionists  from  the 
same  section  and  slaves  from  the  south.  Half  the  states  of  the 
Union  were  represented  here  and  many  foreign  countries.20 

Since  1829  settlers  had  occupied  Marshall  county.  Lacon,  on 
the  Illinois  river  served  as  the  shipping  point  for  the  farmers 
and  bade  fair  to  become  one  of  the  most  important  of  the  towns 
along  the  Illinois  river.  The  site  was  purchased  by  a  company 
of  Ohio  men  in  1831  and  the  town  of  Columbia  laid  out.  Dur- 
ing the  next  few  years  quite  a  number  of  settlers  came  from 


17  History  of  Woodford  County,  238  ff. 

18  History  of  Woodford  County,  400. 

18  Peyton,  Statistical  View  of  Illinois,  13. 
20  History  of  Woodford  County,  227-235. 

[94] 


POOLEY SETTLEMENT    OF    ILLINOIS,    1830~50  381 

Ohio,  and  the  village  grew  until  1837.21  In  the  western  part 
of  the  county,  Henry  was  the  most  important  settlement.  Its 
growth  is  illustrative  of  that  of  many  of  the  settlements  of 
Illinois  during  this  period.  Founded  in  the  early  forties  when 
the  state  was  in  its  financial  difficulties,  grolwth  was  slow  until 
after  1845  when  better  times  came;  by  1853  the  population 
numbered  over  one  thousand.22 

Among  the  settlements  proposed  in  the  period  before  the 
panic,  few  grew  into  realities.  Lyons,  Dorchester,  Auburn, 
Centerville,  Troy  City  and  Chambersburg  were  all  laid  out 
during  the  period  of  speculation,  but  these  ventures  like  many 
others  of  the  time  failed  to  fulfill  expectations,  and  farms  took 
the  places  of  the  proposed  cities.  For  a  time  the  town  of  Web- 
ster was  a  thriving  settlement  but  it  was  later  abandoned  owing 
to  the  unhealthfulness  of  the  location. 

Although  Kentuckians  and  Tennesseans  were  first  in  the 
groves  of  Marshall  county,23  Ohio  and  New  York  had  a  num- 
ber of  representatives,  while  the  name  Yankee  Street  denoted 
the  presence  of  New  Englanders.  In  1850  nearly  5,200  set- 
tlers24 were  in  the  county  and  since  but  36,000  acres  of  land 
were  cultivated25  it  seems  reasonable  to  assume  that  little  of 
the  prairie  was  taken  up  excepting  along  its  edges. 

Putnam  county  which  was  organized  in  1825  had  in  1830 
about  700  inhabitants.26  In  1850  there  'were  but  3,900.27  Hen- 
nepin,  the  county  seat  and  only  settlement  receiving  recogni- 
tion in  the  Federal  census  of  1850,  dates  from  1829.  In  1831 
the  town  lots  of  Hennepin  were  advertised  in  the  Springfield, 
Galena  and  Terre  Haute  papers  but  growth  was  slow,  for  eleven 
families  composed  the  population  in  1833,28  and  in  1850  there 
were  but  four  hundred  and  thirty  settlers  here.29  Granville, 
Florid  and  Mt.  Palatine  were  the  chief  villages  but  important 


81  Ford,  History  of  Putnam  and  Marshall  Counties,  106. 

22  Ibid.,  113. 

23  IUd.,  142. 

24 Seventh  Census  (1850),  702. 

26  Peyton,  Statistical  View  of  Illinois,  13. 

28  Ford,  History  of  Putnam  and  Marshall  Counties,  29. 

27  Seventh  Census  (1850),  702. 

28  Ford,  History  of  Putnam  and  Marshall  Counties,  87. 
28  Seventh  Census  (1850),  714. 

[95] 


382  BULLETIN    OF    THE    UNIVERSITY    OF    WISCONSIN 

only  in  showing  the  tendency  of  the  early  settlers  to  locate 
near  lines  of  communication.  In  the  last  case  the  tendency  is 
especially  noticeable  for  the  village  attained  what  little  import- 
ance it  enjoyed  from  its  location  on  the  Peoria-Ottawa  state 
road.  Northern  pioneers  were  the  most  numerous  in  this  county 
and  of  the  New  Englanders  present  Massachusetts  furnished  the 
greatest  number.30 

In  closing  the  discussion  of  this  part  of  the  state  it  may  be 
said  that  these  counties  along  with  those  across  the  river,  show 
^/themselves  to  be  border  counties,  the  meeting  place  of  the 
T  hunter-pioneer  and  the  farmer  types  of  settlers'.  Following 
i  the  results  of  experience  gathered  by  generations  of  pioneers, 
the  Kentuckians  arid  Tennesseeans  clung  to  the  timber  land  and 
•consequently  .miyjyic^d-a^ojisixl^^  Illinois 

river  toward  the  northern  part  of  the  state.  Close  on  their 
heels  ^thrjjugh^Jjie  lowj?r_j^ntijsJ^j\^e.,J±£_^New  Englanders 
and  New  Yorkers^  and  in1  the  upper  counties  of  the  region, 
when  the  settlements  were_n_qt,  W£U._  established  and  were  com- 
paratively wide-spread,  we  see_the  northern  element  taking 
the  lead  in  numbers.  An  examination  of  county  histories  will 
shoiw  that  in  Mason  and  Tazewell  counties,  the  great  majority 
of  pioneers  were  southern  men,  in  "Woodford  the  percentage 
was  not  so  great,  in  Marshall,  still  less,  and  in  Putnam,  the 
northern  county,  the  southern  pioneer  was  an  exception. 

The  reason  seems  evident  since  the  locality  was  quite  distant 

from  the  influence  of  those  southern   communities  below  the 

Sangamon  river.     Moreover,  as  the  Kentuckian  moved  farther 

and  farther  northward  the  Yankees  became   more  and   more 

numerous  much  to  his  disapproval.     Settlers  frpjrL  New  Eng- 

\  land  and  New  York  had  begun  to  swarm  in  during  the  thirties 

and  taking  up  the  unoccupied  timber  land,  the  frontier-loving 

!  southerner  could  no  longer  find  country  wild  enough  and  far 

enough  removed  from  the  limits  of  civilization  to  make  an  ideal 

frontier. 

Here  was  the  beginning  of  the  conflict  between  the  hunter- 
pioneer  of  the  South  and  the  agricultural  pioneer  of  the  North. 
The  hunter  needed  the  woodlands  for  a  field  from  which  to 


80  Illinois  in  1837,  100. 

[96] 


POOLEY SETTLEMENT    OF    ILLINOIS,    1830-50  383 

gain  his  livelihood;  he  needed  the  game  which  lived  within  its 
limits  and  he  needed  little  land  for  agriculture.     His  progress 
northward  so  far  had  been  carried  on  with  comparative  speed 
owing  to  the  fact  that  he  met  little  opposition  from  any  other 
type  of  frontiersman.     In  the    southern   counties,    being    first 
upon  the  scene,  he  took  up  the  timber  land  at  his  leisure,  cleared 
his  plot  of  ground  and  lived  a  life  'which  satisfied  him.     The 
New  Englander  and  the  man  from  the  Middle  States,  arriving 
somewhat  later,  took  what  was  left  and  occasionally   it  was 
the  prairie  land,  as  seen  in  the  instance  of  the  Tremont  settle-     , 
ment  in  Tazewell  county.     So  far  the  hunter  was  firmly  es-   / 
tablished  in  his  native  region,  the  woodland,  and  was  slowly/ 
undergoing  the  transition  from  hunter  to  farmer. 

The  stream  of  settlers  coming  to  the  northern  counties  was 
different  in  character.  There  was  no  desire  among  these  pio- 
neers to  use  the  timber  lands  for  hunting  purposes  but  rather 
for  an  aid  in  conquering  the  prairies.  Faster  and  faster  these 
farmers  poured  into  Illinois  by  the  lake  route.  They  filled  up 
the  timber  quickly  and  soon  began  to  experiment  with  the 
prairies.  Weight  of  numbers  and  unity  of  purpose  combined  to 
check  the  advance  of  the  southern  man,  who,  upon  finding  the 
groves  claimed,  was  compelled  to  look  elsewhere  for  his  kind  of 
country. 

The  population  of  the  counties  in  this  district  amounted  to 
31,500  in  1850,  the  greater  part  having  come  in  the  decade 
1841-1850  after  the  end  of  the  financial  depression.31  Havana, 
Pekin,  Lacon  and  Hennepin  were  the  chief  towns,  each  one 
situated  on  the  Illinois  river  and  deriving  its  importance  from 
its  location  on  the  common  line  of  communication  with  the 
older  settlements  of  the  south.  Of  the  500,000  acres  of  land  in 
this  district  220,000  were  under  cultivation.32 

Few  settlers  had  come  to  the  counties  of  the  upper  Illinois 
valley  before  the  Black  Hawk  "War,  La  Salle  county,  which 
was  organized  in  1831  being  the  only  one  with  many  settlers. 
Beginnings  of  settlement  were  made  at  Ottawa  in  1823  but  the 
Indian  outbreak  of  1832  put  a  stop  to  its  growth.  The  Yankee 


^Seventh  Cemtte  (1850),  701,  702. 

32  Peyton,  Statistical  View  of  Illinois,  13. 

7  [97] 


384  BULLETIN    OF    THE    UNIVERSITY    OF    WISCONSIN 

settlement  at  Hickory  Grove  was  the  largest  one  in  Will  county 
and  this  with  Ottawa,  was  the  only  one  in  this  part  of  Illinois, 
strong  enough  to  exist  through  the  Indian  "War. 

Some  experiments  in  establishing  colonies  were  tried*  here 
but  met  with  little  success.  The  Rockwell  colony,  based  upon 
the  principle  of  exclusion  of  intoxicating  liquors,  was  an  in- 
teresting but  unsuccessful  New  England  experiment.33  In  1830 
a  colony  of  young  men  from  Northampton,  Massachusetts,  de- 
siring to  obtain  a  suitable  site  for  a  settlement,  sent  commis- 
sioners to  the  state  to  make  a  selection  of  lands.  Influenced  by 
the  fertility  of  the  soil,  by  the  reported  existence  of  immense 
coal  beds  and  by  the  proposed  canal  and  railroad  communica- 
tions, the  committee  fixed  upon  La  Salle  as  the  most  advanta- 
geous location.  Several  settlers  came  during  the  year,  a  cabin 
was  erected  upon  the  site  of  La  Salle  town,  but  owing  to  the 
inclement  weather  the  greater  number  of  the  new  settlers  moved 
away.34 

The  Black  Hawk  War  effectually  put  a  stop  to  settlement  in 
these  counties  for  the  space  of  a  year,  driving  the  greater  part 
of  the  settlers  back  upon  the  stronger  settlements  in  the  south 
and  practically  checking  the  spread  of  the  hunter-pioneer  class 
long  enough  to  allow  the  swarms  of  New  Englanders  and  New 
Yorkers  to  gain  possession  of  the  northern  part  of  the  state  and 
successfully  exclude  the  southern  men. 

From  the  end  of  this  war  until  the  financial  crash  of  1837 
there  was  a  decidedly  rapid  growth  of  population  along  the 
\    Illinois  river.     The  Illinois  and  Michigan  canal  from  Chicago 
\  to  the  Illinois  river,  was  to  connect  with  the  latter  somewhere 
j  in  La  Salle  county.     Settlers  flocked  in  hoping  to  obtain  lands 
on  or  near  the  proposed  line.     When  the  land  sales  were  made 
in  1835,  however,  the  speculators  present  took  the  lion's  share, 
leaving  but  a  small  portion  for  the  actual  settlers.     During  the 
following  year  came  the   greatest  immigration  of  the  period. 
Ground  was  broken  for  the  canal,  July  4,  1836,  and  the  begin- 


33  The  ycio  Yorker,  Aug.  20,  1836. 

34  Pa-it  and  Present  of  LaSalle  County,  187 ;  History  of  LaSalle  County,  296. 


[98] 


POOLEY SETTLEMENT    OF    ILLINOIS,    1830-50  385 

ning  of  active  operations  no  doubt  tended  to  increase  greatly 
the  crowd  of  new  comers.35 

Ottawa  was  still  the  chief  town  of  La  Salle  county,  having  a 
population  of  seven  or  eight  hundred,  most  of  whom  were 
"Yankees — a  shrewd,  selfish,  enterprising,  cow-milking  set  of 
men."36  A  few  stores,  frame  houses  and  Kentucky  log  cabins 
composed  the  settlement.37  Peru,  a  few  miles  farther  down  the 
river,  had  sprung  into  existence  shortly  after  the  Black  Hawk 
War.  The  growth  which  took  place  soon  sifter  it  was  laid  out 
in  1834  was  due  to  the  fact  that  work  on  the  canal  and  rail- 
roads began  soon  after.38 

The  arrival,  at  this  time,  of  the  first  bandjpjLSeandinavians 
was  an  event  of  some  importance  in  the  settlement  of  this  part 
of  Illinois.  From  Ne'w  York  they  followed  the  easiest  and  most 
natural  route  to  the  state  along  the  line  of  the  Great  Lakes.  The 
arrival  of  these  foreigners  gave  a  forecast  of  the  influence 
which  the  northern  line  of  transportation  was  to  have  upon 
the  character  of  the  settlements  in  these  counties,  for  soon  there 
was  to  be  a  great  throng  of  foreigners  poured  through  the 
Chicago  gateway  upon  the  prairies. 

In  Grundy  county,  a  fringe  of  settlers  established  themselves 
along  the  canal,  but  the  spread  of  settlement  was  seriously  in- 
terfered with  by  the  operations  of  land  speculators  who  pro- 
ceeded to  buy  up  the  lands  back  from  the  squatters '  claims 
bordering  the  canal.  Advanced  prices  forced  the  later  settlers 
to  look  elsewhere  for  homes  and  as  a  consequence  the  develop- 
ment of  the  county  was  not  rapid.  Its  chief  settlement,  Kan- 
kakee  City,  was  the  outgrowth  of  the  speculation  of  the  times 
and  is  a  good  example  of  the  mushroom  type  of  cities.  In  its 
best  days  the  population  numbered  seventy-five;  lots  were  sold 
in  New  York  and  Chicago  for  thousands  of  dollars,  but  the 
city  fell  with  the  crash  of  1837,  and  today  the  site  of  the  once 
promising  Kankakee  City  is  a  farm.39 


85  Past  and  Present  of  LaSalle  County,  194. 

36  The  Chicago  Weekly  American,  Feb.  4,  1837. 

37  The  New  Yorker,  June  10,  1837. 

M  Past  and  Present  of  LaSalle  County,  306. 
88  History  of  Grundy  County,  319. 

[99] 


386  BULLETIN"    OF    THE    UNIVERSITY    OF    WISCONSIN 

For  two  or  three  years  following  the  eventful  1832,  few  set- 
tlers came  to  Will  county,  but  the  land  sale  at  Chicago  in  June, 
1835,  brought  many  immigrants.  Farmers,  speculators  and 
city  promoters,  jostled  each  other  in  their  attempts  to  acquire 
the  more  desirable  portions.  Those  wishing  land  for  homes 
were,  owing  to  a  lack  of  ready  money,  not  so  fortunate  in  ob- 
taining large  quantities  of  ground  as  was  the  class  of  specula- 
tors which  took  up  section  after  section,  and  platted  town  after 
town,  some  of  which  were  never  to  know  an  existence.  Pal- 
myra, Williamsburg,  Middletown,  Vienna,  Carlyle,  West  Lock- 
port,  New  Rochester,  Buffalo  and  Lurenbergh  were  all  laid 
out  but  were  soon  abandoned.40 

All  efforts  at  town-making  were,  however,  not  futile,  and 
where  towns  were  not  attempted,  the  little  clusters  of  farm  houses 
clinging  to  the  timber  showed  a  steady  advance  in  the  numbers 
of  settlers  and  by  1836  the  population  was  great  enough  to 
warrant  the  formation  of  a  new  county.41  New  Englanders 
and  New  Yorkers,  traveling  westward  over  the  lakes  either  to 
Chicago  or  Detroit  and  from  there  by  land,  found  their  way 
to  Will  county,  founding  Plainfield,  Lockport,  Joliet  and  other 
places.  A  group  of  Ohioans,  more  venturesome  than  their 
neighbors,  or  from  necessity,  at  this  time  dared  the  prairie  and 
took  up  their  abode  in  the  eastern. part  of  the  county  at  Monee.42 

Lockport  for  a  time  seemed  to  offer  the  greatest  possibilities 
for  growth.  Anticipating  its  importance,  settlers  congregated 
here,  believing  that  its  situation  on  the  Illinois-Michigan  canal 
assured  its  success  as  a  city.  Gradually  it  grew  in  importance 
and  when  the  canal  was  opened  in  1848  it  became  a  shipping 
point  for  the  farmers  of  the  surrounding  country  who  were 
eager  to  dispose  of  their  surplus  products  in  the  most  advan- 
tageous markets.43  Joliet,  which  in  1835  was  but  a  small  vil- 
lage, increased  in  size  during  the  succeeding  years  and  was,  in 
1837,  the  largest  town  in  the  county.44 


40  Woodruff,  Joliet  and,  Will  County  Forty  Tears  Ago,  33. 

41  Historical  Encyclopedia  of  Illinois,  589. 
**  History  of  Will  County,  567. 

43  History  of  Will  County,  432. 

44  Illinois  in  1837,  123,  gives  the  population  as  six  hundred  but  the  estimate 
must  be  taken  with  caution,  as  the  book  is  not  entirely  reliable. 

[100] 


POOLEY SETTLEMENT    OF    ILLINOIS,    1830-50  387 

The  period  1832-1837  while  one  of  beginnings  was  also  one 
of  rapid  growth.  Fear  of  the  Indians  had  at  last  been  removed, 
new  lands  had  been  opened  up  and  work  on  the  canal  begun. 
Steam  navigation  on  the  lakes  was  rapidly  attaining  great  di- 
mensions, which,  with  the  influences  previously  mentioned  and 
the  almost  universal  desire  for  speculation  in  lands  and  prop- 
erty, tended  to  make  this  period  one  of  exceedingly  great  im- 
portance in  the  settlement  of  this  part  of  the  state.  Besides 
the  villages  of  Peru,  Ottawa,  Plainfield,  Lockport  and  Joliet, 
numbers  of  smaller  ones  had  been  made  and  hundreds  of  solid 
New  Englanders  and  New  Yorkers  had  already  established 
themselves  in  the  most  desirable  portions  of  the  counties. 

The  bursting  of  the  bubble  of  speculation  in  1837  put  a  stop 
to  settlement  for  a  time,  however,  and  those  parts  of  the  state 
dependent  upon  the  advance  of  work  on  the  canal  for  their 
own  increasing  importance,  felt  a  severe  shock  when,  owing  to 
financial  embarrassment,  work  on  the  system  of  internal  im- 
provements was,  for  the  time,  abandoned.  Farm  products  de- 
clined greatly  in  value  but  even  in  the  face  of  this  many  of 
those  employed  on  the  canal  turned  their  efforts  to  farming 
when  operations  on  the  canal  ceased. 

During  the  early  years  of  the  financial  crisis  the  effect  was 
not  so  noticeable  as  it  was  in  later  years.  The  Rockwell  Land 
Company  of  Norwich,  Connecticut,  which  had  for  several  years 
been  interested  in  La  Salle  county  lands  sent  one  hundred  colo- 
nists to  the  county  in  1837-38.  The  settlement  gave  promises  for 
the  future  but  sickness  among  the  settlers  soon  caused  its  de- 
population. At  one  time  it  contained  some  two  hundred  in- 
habitants.45 

From  the  time  La  Salle  was  laid  out  in  1837  until  work  on 
the  canal  and  railroad  ceased  in  1841  there  was  a  period  of  ac- 
tivity and  rapid  growth,  but  decline  began  in  1840.48  Immigra- 
tion practically  ceased  and  in  1843  La  Salle  had  only  about  one 
hundred  inhabitants.47  Ottawa,  the  only  town  not  showing 
the  effects  of  the  cessation  of  work  on  the  canal,  grew  apace  and 


45  Past  and  present  of  Lafialle  County,  296. 
48  Mid.,  297. 
"  Itid.,  301. 


[101] 


388  BULLETIN    OF    THE    UNIVERSITY    OF    WISCONSIN 

from  1837  to  1840  doubled  its  population,  becoming  the  most 
important  city  in  that  portion  of  the  state.  One  thousand  in- 
habitants, exclusive  of  canal  laborers,  composed  its  population. 
.New  Yorkers  and  New  Englanders  were  present  in  the  greatest 
numbers  with  a  smaller  representation  from  Pennsylvania,  Ohio, 
Kentucky  and  other  western  states. 

In  Joliet  especially  it  is  said  that  the  people  suffered  actual 
hardships  during  this  period  of  financial  trouble.  The  same 
is  true  of  Lockport  which,  as  has  been  said,  seemed  to  give 
promise  of  becoming  a  prosperous  town.  "Wheatland,  settled  by 
a  number  of  Vermonters  who  made  the  journey  overland  from 
their  native  state,  was  the  only  new  settlement  of  note  es- 
tablished during  the  period. 

By  1842  the  financial  aspect  of  the  state  began  to  brighten 
and  immigration  to  increase.  By  1846  repudiation  was  no 
longer  thought  of,  confidence  had  increased  to  such  a  degree 
that  immigrants  to  the  West  gladly  settled  in  Illinois  instead 
of  turning  to  the  north  or  going  still  farther  to  the  west.  From 
this  point  the  future  of  the  state  was  assured  and  when  work 
was  again  resumed  on  the  canal  and  the  railroad,  the  surround- 
ing country  began  a  most  rapid  development. 

The  following  period,  1843  to  1850,  was  one  of  gradual  re- 
vival. Little  by  little  the  tide  of  immigration  increased  and 
with  the  increase  came  the  necessity  of  conquering  the  prob- 
lems of  the  prairie.  Step  by  step  the  pioneers  advanced  into 
the  open  until  the  smaller  spaces  between  the  lines  of  timber 
were  entirely  taken  up.  By  1850  about  eighty  per  cent,  of  the 
land  of  La  Salle  county  was  under  cultivation;  forty-five  per 
cent,  in  Grundy  county  and  a  somewhat  smaller  portion  in 
"Will  county  owing  to  its  more  extensive  prairies.48 

Most  important  of  the  settlements  along  the  upper  Illinois 
was  Peru  which,  owing  to  its  advantageous  position  on  the  line 
of  water  communication  with  the  Great  Lakes  by  means  of  the 
Illinois  river  and  the  canal,  and  i#s  communication  assured  with, 
the  northern  and  central  portions  of  the  state  by  railway,  had 


48  Seventh  Census  (1850),  728. 


[102] 


POOLEY SETTLEMENT    OF    ILLINOIS,    1830-50  389 

become  a  town  of  3,000  people  who  were  at  the  close  of  our 
period  taking  steps  to  procure  a  city  government.48 

La  Salle,  in  a  way,  illustrated  the  type  of  western  towns  of 
the  time.  Its  two  hundred  inhabitants  were,  according  to  ac- 
counts, of  none  too  good  a  class.  One  traveler  says  that  upon 
inquiry  at  one  or  two  of  the  stores  he  "ascertained  that  there 
were  Christians  in  the  place."50  The  two  Ottawas  Which  had 
a  combined  population  of  over  3,200  people51  were  described 
by  the  same  author  as  making  "a  beautiful  and  flourishing 
village  .  .  .  laid  out  and  built  with  considerable  taste 
and  beauty."51  It  probably  derived  its  neatness  from  the  New 
England  population  which  was  in  the  majority  here.  Streator 
and  Mendota,  today  towns  of  considerable  size,  were  as  yet 
not  thought  of,  needing  the  railroads  to  call  them,  into  exis- 
tence. 

Will  county  in  1S50  had  16,700  inhabitants  and  Joliet,  the 
county  town,  had  a  population  of  2,659.53  In  its  growth  of  bus- 
iness and  development  of  industries,  we  see  the  influence  of  the 
shrewd  New  Englander  and  New  Yorker.  Mills  and  quarries 
were  in  successful  operation,  fifty  stores  supplied  the  wants  of 
the  townspeople  and  of  the  farmers  of  the  surrounding  country, 
while  the  moral,  religious  and  intellectual  welfare  of  the  com- 
munity lacked  nothing  in  the  way  of  churches,  schools  and 
newspapers. 

Norwegians,  "Pennsylvania  Dutch"  and  thrifty  German 
farmers  now  came  in  numbers  and  added  their  stolid  industry 
to  the  shrewd,  sharp  methods  of  the  New  Englander,  each  in 
his  respective  way  adding  to  his  own  welfare  and  to  the  wealth 
of  the  country.  The  foreign  population,  however,  did  not  be- 
come of  much  importance  until  after  1845. 

An  examination  of  the  nativities  of  the  pioneers  who  came  to 
this  part  of  Illinois  before  1850  shows  the  influence  of  location 
upon  the  character  of  the  settlements.  Closely  connected  by 


*»  Past  and  Present  of  LaSaUe  County,  309. 

50  Curtiss,  Western  Portraiture,  312. 

81  Seventh  Census  (1850),  710. 

52  Curtiss,  Western  Portraiture,  68. 

t3  Seventh  Census  (1850),  716. 


[103] 


390  BULLETIN    OF    THE    UNIVERSITY    OF    WISCONSIN 

the  Illinois  river,  with  the  settlements  of  the  southern  and  cen- 
tral parts  of  the  state  it  is  natural  to  expect  the  presence  of 
southern  settlers  in  these  counties.  But  they  appear  here  only  in 
very  small  numbers,  being  entirely  outnumbered  by  the  New  Eng- 
landers  and  New  Yorkers  who  came  by  way  of  the  Great  Lakes. 
The  pioneers  of  Grundy  county  came  principally  from  south- 
ern Ohio  with  a  number  from  the  southern  and  eastern  states.54 
Most  of  the  families  had  been  pioneers  in  older  settlements  in 
the  states  from  which  they  came,  and,  having  been  trained  on 
the  frontier,  regarded  it  as  the  most  attractive  home.  During 
the  last  years  of  the  forties  Norw£gian&..4*egan  to  come  in  chiefly 
from  La  Salle  county.  They  were  soon  joined  by  .others.  In 
"Will  and  LaSalle  counties  the  scarcity  of  settlers  from  the  south- 
ern states  is  plainly  noticeable.55 

The  statistics  given  show  more  plainly  than  before  the  in- 
fluence of  lines  of  communication.  The  New  Englanders  and 
New  Yorkers  were  farther  removed  from  this  part  of  Illinois 
than  were  the  Kentuckians  and  Tennesseeans  or  their  neigh- 
bors of  southern  Illinois.  Steam  navigation,  however,  tended 
to'wards  the  annihilation  of  distance  and  the  Great  Lakes  offering 
the  highway  to  the  fertile  Illinois  lands  played  by  far  the  most 
important  part  in  fixing  the  'Characteristics  of  this  northern 
settlement. 

It  must  be  noticed  also  where  these  pioneers  settled.  The 
wide  bottom  lands  of  the  larger  Illinois  rivers,  which,  from  un- 
healthfulness  and  liability  to  spring  overflows,  had  kept  the  set- 


54  History  of  Gritndy  County,  148. 

65  Three  hundred  biographies  of  Will  County  pioneers  were  examined  with 
the  following  results :  one  hundred  and  sixty  came  from  the  Middle  Atlantic 
states,  and  of  the  e  one  hundred  and  thirty-six  were  New  Yorkers ;  forty  came 
from  New  England  ;  seventy-five  from  foreign  lands,  one-third  of  the  foreigners 
being  Germans ;  sixteen  were  from  the  western  states ;  six  from  the  southern 
states  and  but  three  from  Kentucky  and  Tennessee  (History  of  Will  County, 
659-906).  Eight  hundred  biographies  of  early  settlers  of  LaSalle  county  were 
examined.  Three  hundred  and  sixteen  came  from  New  York,  Pennsylvania 
and  New  Jersey ;  New  York  sent  two  hundred  and  twenty ;  two  hundred  and 
eight  came  from  New  England ;  one  hundred  from  Ohio ;  one  hundred  from  foreign 
lands ;  thirty  from  the  South  Atlantic  and  Gulf  states  and  but  eighteen  from 
Kentucky  and  Tennessee  (Baldwin,  History  of  LaSalle  County,  225^83). 
Combining  the  statistics  noted  it  is  found  that  over  forty-three  per  cent,  of 
these  pioneers  came  from  the  middle  Atlantic  states ;  twenty-two  per  cent,  from 
the  New  England  states ;  a  little  more  than  three  per  cent,  from  the  southern 
Etates  and  but  two  per  cent,  from  Kentucky  and  Tennessee. 

[104] 


POOLEY SETTLEMENT    OF    ILLINOIS,    1830-50  391 

tiers  back  from  their  immediate  vicinities  in  the  south,  were  un- 
known in  the  north.  The  rivers  were  smaller,  swifter  and, 
while  they  overflowed  their  banks  in  some  instances,  the- 
overflows  did  not  remain  for  any  length  of  time,  consequently 
th'ere  was,1  not  the  possibility  of  unhealthful  locations  near  by. 
The  towns  as  well  as  the  earliest  farms  of  this  section  of  the 
state,  were  close  to  the  rivers,  a  thing  not  true  along  the  south- 
ern rivers  save  in  exceptional  cases. 

Chicago's  influence  upon  the  growth  of  settlement  is  marked. 
As  an  agricultural  country  is  one  of  the  necessities  for  a  city's- 
growth,  so  is  a  market  one  of  the  requisites  for  the  de- 
velopment of  an  agricultural  district.  In  Chicago  these  north- 
eastern counties  found  both  a  market  and  a  supply  depot,  and 
before  the  coming  of  the  railroads  made  transportation  easy 
from  all  parts  of  the  state  it  must  be  noticed  that  the  develop- 
ment  was  greatest  in  those  counties  near  Chicago  or  near  the' 
proposed  Illinois-Michigan  canal  line.  Numerous  smaller 
towns  sprang  up,  Peru,  Ottawa,  La  Salle,  Aurora  and  Joliet,  all 
upon  the  rivers,  thus  showing  the  instinctive  desire  the  pio- 
neers had  for  communication  with  the  outside  world.  These 
places  hardly  reached  the  city  stage  before  1850,  for  their  abil- 
ity to  dispose  of  agricultural  supplies  and  to  act  as  supply  de- 
pots was  limited  owing  directly  to  imperfect  communication. 
The  railroads  came  later  and  solved  the  problem. 

In  the  Fox  river  valley,  Kendall  and  Du  Page  counties  were 
the  only  ones  which  had  settlements  before  the  Black  Hawk 
War.  Naper's  settlement  in  Du  Page  county  was  the  only  im- 
portant one  and  numbered  one  hundred  and  eighty  souls  in 
1832.56  McHenry  and  Lake  counties  were  not  opened  to  set- 
tlers at  this  date.  By  a  treaty  in  1833  the  Chippewas,  Ottawas 
and  Pottowatomies  ceded  the  last  of  their  lands  in  Illinois  and 
while  these  lands  were  not  opened  to  settlers  until  1836,  a  few 
pioneers  had  taken  up  claims  in  this  part  of  the  state  before' 
that  date.57 

With  the  close  of  the  Black  Hawk  War  the  pioneers  ventured 


56  Richmond  and  Vallette,  History  of  Du  Page  County,  6. 

"Eighteenth  Annual  Report  of  the  American  Bureau  of  Ethnology  (1896-97),. 
2,  750. 

[105] 


392  BULLETIN    OF    THE    UNIVERSITY    OF    WISCONSIN 

farther  north  along  the  river  and  all  through  the  years  1834, 
1835  and  1836  the  immigrants  poured  into  the  state,  animated 
by  hopes  of  sudden  wealth.  All  the  timber  land  in  Du  Page 
county  was  claimed  by  1835  but  for  several  years,  in  spite  of 
the  rapid  immigration,  few  houses  could  be  found  away  from 
the  timber.  Naperville,  advantageously  situated  on  the  road 
from  Ottawa  to  Chicago,  was  the  most  important  town  for  a 
time  and  its  two  taverns  did  a  rushing  business  during  the 
period  when  land  speculators  thronged  the  neighborhood  and 
later  when  the  farmers  carted  their  surplus  products  to  Chi- 
cago. 

By  1834  the  line  of  settlements  had  reached  Kane  county  and 
cabins  dotted  the  banks  of  the  Fox  river  for  miles,  collecting 
here  and  there  into  little  villages  where  advantages  were  of- 
fered. St.  Charles,  Elgin  and  Aurora  sprang  up  along  the 
Fox  in  the  course  of  a  few  years. 

Aurora  was  located  because  the  river  at  this  point  seemed  to 
offer  some  advantages  of  water  power  and  by  1836  the  settle- 
ment had  all  the  requirements  of  a  thriving  frontier  village. 
Even  the  panic  of  1837  had  no  noticeable  effect  upon  its  steady 
development,  for  unlike  many  of  the  early  Illinois  towns,  Au- 
rora was  built  upon  a  solid  basis  rather  than  upon  imaginary 
prospects.  Elgin  was  also  located  upon  the  Fox  river  in  1835, 
the  location  being  selected  on  account  of  water  power.58 

St.  Charles,  a  small  settlement  on  the  Fox  between  Aurora 
and  Elgin',  lays  claim  to  notice  in  this  period  through  the  class 
of  its  settlers.  In  1834  a  colony  of  Virginians  with  over  two 
hundred  head  of  live  stock  emigrated  to  this  place.  It  seems 
an  exceptional  case,  for  seldom  indeed  were  southerners  found 
in  this  part  of  the  state.  During  the  same  year  another  colony, 
this  time  from  New  Brunswick,  was  added  to  the  community.59 

In  spite  of  the  fact  that  settlers  were  forbidden  by  the  Fed- 
eral government  to  reside  in  the  recently  ceded  Indian  lands  of 
Lake  and  McHenry  counties  until  1836,  several  claims  were 
made  in  Lake  county  on  the  Aux  Plaines  river  in  1834.60  Little 


88  History  of  the  City  of  Elgin,  3 ;  in  Illinois  Local  Histories,  Z,  Wisconsla 
Historical  Society  Library. 

M  Past  and  Present  of  Kane  County,  329,  331. 
0°  History  of  Lake  County,  220. 

[106] 


POOLEY SETTLEMENT    OF    ILLINOIS,    1830-50  393 

settlement  was  made,  however,  until  1836,  for  the  summer  of 
1835  'was  exceedingly  cold  and  many  who  came  with  the  inten- 
tion of  settling  here  were  induced  to  move  farther  towards  the 
interior.61  By  1837  there  were  probably  three  hundred  people 
within  the  county  limits.62 

The  same  conditions  prevailed  in  McHenry  county  and  the 
population  before  1836  consisted  of  a  few  squatters.  Besides 
the  New  Englanders  who  seem  to  have  predominated  there  were 
some  VirgiHiaas.-and  foreigners.63 

The  period  1837-43  was  one  of  slow  growth.  Kendall  and 
Du  Page  counties  were  organized  but  neither  had  many  set- 
tlers. McHenry  and  Lake  counties  grew  slowly  in  population 
and  especially  in  the  size  of  their  towns.  Since  these  counties 
were  agricultural  districts  and  had  no  markets  in  the  immed- 
iate vicinity  there  was  no  tendency  towards  concentration  of 
population. 

During  the  remainder  of  the  period  until  1850  the  develop- 
ment is  hard  to  trace,  save  in  Kane  county,  where,  owing  to 
water  facilities,  concentration  took  place  to  a  greater  extent 
than  in  the  other  counties.  The  advancement  which  had  been 
made  in  population  was  accompanied  by  a  like  advancement  in 
the  standard  of  living  among  the  pioneers,  for  the  farms  at  the 
close  of  the  period  had  the  appearance  of  being  well  cultivated 
and  the  log  houses  of  the  preceding  decade  had,  in  most  cases, 
given  way  to  neater  frame  ones,  prettily  painted  and  well  fur- 
nished.64 The  timber  lands  ;slowly  disappeared  and  were  sup- 
planted by  the  orchards  6$  -the  thrifty  New  Englander  or  Ger- 
man. Schools  were. .to  .be  found  in  every- village. 

Elgin  and  Waukegan  were  towns  of  considerable  importance 
and  each  owed  its  growth  to  a  different  cause.  Elgin  was 
primarily  a  manufacturing  town,  ranking  well  up  as  such 
among  the  towns  of  the  state  in  1850.  In  addition  to  this  fact 
it  could  be  called  a  railroad  town  also,  for  it  was  in  1850  the 
terminus  of  the  first  railroad  of  northern  Illinois,  which  was 


41  Kingston,  Early  Western  Days,  338,  la  Wis.  Hist.  Colls.,  7. 

82  History  of  McHenry  County,  166. 

83  Ibid.,  passim. 

64  Prairie  Farmer,  7,  298. 

U071 


394  BULLETIN    OF    THE  .UNIVERSITY    OF    WISCONSIN 

in  time  to  develop  into  a  part  of  the  Chicago  and  Northwestern- 
system. 

Waukegan,  with  a  population  of  3,000  in  1850,66  had  shown 
a  surprising  growth.  The  back  country  was  an  agricultural 
one  and  since  settlement  was  going  on  rapidly,  lumber  and  mer- 
chandise were  necessities.  Waukegan  had  a  good  pact,  and  be- 
ing closer  to  the  settlers  of  these  counties,  than  was  Chicago,  it 
naturally  became  the  landing  place  for  the  lumber  used  in  the 
back  country  and  to  this  rapidly  increasing  trade  the  growth  of 
Waukegan  may  be  attributed.66  The  development  of  the  rail- 
roads later  acted  as  a  detriment  to  the  city  when  they  diverted 
the  trade  of  this  rapidly  growing  district  towards  Chicago.67 
Aside  from  "Waukegan  there  was  no  town  of  any  importance  in 
.  either  Lake  or  Mctlenry  county. 

From  all  portions  of  the  nation  the  settlers  came.  After  the 
Southerners  who  trailed  the 'army  pursuing  Black  Hawk  north- 
ward, there  came  a  swarm  of  Yankees  from  Boston,  from  the  Con- 
necticut valley,  from  the  Berkshire  Hills,  from  New  Hampshire, 
/  from  Vermont  and  from  Rhode  Island.  These  were  joined  by  New 
Yorkers  from  the  Genesee  Valley,  from  Otsego,  Syracuse,  Utiea, 
Plattsburg,  Oneida,  Orange,  Tompkins,  Washington  and  Che- 
mung  counties,  and  to  these  were  added  Scotch,  Irish,  "Penn- 
sylvania Dutch,"  Welsh,  French,  Scandinavians,  Germans  and 
even  negroes.68  The  men  from  the  northern  states  predominated 
and  everywhere  the  fine  appearance  of  the  farms  and  dwellings 
denoted  the  thrift,  comfort  and  wealth  of  the  careful  New  York 
and  New  England  farmers. 

Viewing  the  field  as  a  whole,  noticeable  results  appear.  In 
1830  there  were  some  6,000  people  in  the  counties  treated  in  this 
chapter.  By  1840  there  were  almost  46,000  and  in  1850  the 


<*  Seventh  Census  (1850),  710. 

86  In  1845  one  hundred  and  ninety  boats  landed  at  Waukegan ;  in  1850  the 
number  had  risen  to  1095.  In  1846  there  were  1,500,000  feet  of  lumber  brought 
to  the  port  and  in  1850  the  lumber  trade  amounted  to  1,500,000  feet.  (Haines, 
History  of  Lake  County,  103-108.) 

67  The  importance  of  the  trade  may  be  judged  from  the  development  in  popula- 
tion, the  increase  in  the  two  counties  for  the  decade  1841-50  being  almost  24.000. 
Seventh  Census  (1850),  702. 

68  A  summary  based    upon  an    examination   of  the    biographies    given  in  the 
county  histories. 


[108] 


POOLEY SETTLEMENT    OF    ILLINOIS,    1830-50  395 

number  had  reached  132,000.     Settlement  took  place  most  rap- 
idly in  the  northern  counties  during  the  decade  1841-1850,  these 
counties  gaming  more  than  twice  as  many  settlers  during  the 
decade  as  did  the  five  counties  in  the  Middle  Illinois  valley.69 
The  influence  of  lines  of  transportation  is  plainly  seen  in  the 
•characteristics  of  the  northern  settlements.     Slowly  the  hunter- 
pioneer  of  the  south  had  worked  his  way  through  the  timber 
lands  of  the  Illinois  Valley  until  the  Black  Hawk  "War  had 
stopped  his  progress.     When  quiet  again    reigned    along    the 
frontier  line  the  pioneer  returned  to  his  work  of  conquest  but 
'  too  late,  for  before  he  could  regain  lost  ground  the  development 
of  steam  navigation  upon  the  lakes  had  opened  the  way  for  the 
New  York  and  New  England  farmers  and  they  were  busy  in  the 
woodlands  coveted  by  the  Kentuckians  and  Tennesseeans.     In 
the  struggle  between  the  two  classes  of  pioneers  for  the  posses- 
sion of  northern  Illinois,  numbers  and  speed  of  communication 
had  weight  and  the  methods  employed  by  the  pioneer  of  the 
earlier  years  gave  way  before  the  influence  of  steam,  and  the 
hunter-pioneer  was  forced  to  leave  this  section  of  the  country 
and  seek  a  home  elsewhere.     His  work,  however,  had  been  ac- 
complished, for  these  hardy  hunters  had,  by  following  the  line 
of  the  Illinois  river,  cut  the  great  prairie  almost  in  two  and  had 
given  the  agricultural  pioneer  a  basis  upon  which  he   could 
work  when  he  grappled  with  the  problems  of  the  prairies. 

While  the  agricultural  population  was  much  in  excess  of  the 
urban  population  there  were  in  1850  several  towns  of  consider- 
able importance  in  the  valley.  P&CH.  and  Ottawa  each  had 
3,000  settlers,  Joliet  and  Waukegan.had  2,500  each,  Elgin  and 
St.  .Charles  more  than  2,000  each,  while  Naperville  and  Pekin 
had  somewhere  between  1,600  and  1,700  each.  Several  others 
liad  less.  In  each  case  favorable  locations  upon  the  Illinois  river 
or  upon  roads  leading  to  Chicago  explain  the  growth  of  the 
cities;  some  were  located  on  account  of  the  presence  of  water- 
power,  others  to  become  a  point  of  contact  between  an  agricul- 
tural back  country  and  the  markets  so  much  needed.  \  ./ 


«o  Prom  1841  to  1850  the  five  counties  of  the  middle  Illinois  Valley  gained 
20,300  settlers;  the  three  counties  of  the  upper  Illinois  gained  18,boo  and  the 
five  Fox  river  counties  gained  47,700.  (Seventh  Census  (1850),  701-702.) 

[109] 


396  BULLETIN    OF    THE    UNIVERSITY    OF    WISCONSIN 


Cities  over  2,500. 

©    Cities  over  1,000. 
•  None    Towns  below  1,000. 
Villages. 


THE  MUJTABY  TRACT  (1850) 


Curved  line  shows  the  limits  of  the  prairie  ;   less  than  20  per  cent,  woodland. 
Year  indicates  date  of  county  organization. 


[110] 


POOLEY SETTLEMENT    OF    ILLINOIS,    1830~50  397 


CHAPTER  VI 
THE  MILITARY  TRACT 


The  Military  Tract  includes  most  of  that  portion  of  the 
state  lying  between  the  Illinois  and  Mississippi  rivers,  south  of 
Bock  Island  county.  This  territory,  which  had  been  set  aside  by 
the  Federal  government  for  the  veterans  of  the  War  of  1812,  con- 
tains thirteen  entire  counties  and  parts  of  three  others,  in  all 
more  than  5,000,000  acres,  not  far  from  the  area  of  the  state  of 
Massachusetts.1 

Many  grants  were  made  but  few  were  actually  settled  upon 
by  the  grantees.  Fearing  the  toils  of  pioneer  life  or  lacking 
a  definite  knowledge  of  the  value  of  the  lands  ceded,  many 
sold  their  grants,  (one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  each)  for  nomi- 
nal sums,  considering  themselves  fortunate  when  able  to  con- 
vert what  seemed  visionary  wealth  into  actual  wealth,  even 
though  it  was  no  more  than  a  cow  or  a  horse.2 

However,  the  people  who  resided  in  Illinois  at  the  time  were 
well  aware  of  the  value  of  the  land  and  proceeded  to  "squat" 
upon  it,  since  they  were  unable  to  get  any  valid  title  to  it,  not 
knowing  the  actual  owners.  Cultivation  by  the  squatters  fol- 
lowed and  often  trouble  came  also.  Land  sharks,  ever  on  the 
lookout  for  bargains,  watched  the  increasing  value  of  the 
farms,  hunted  up  the  original  owners,  bought  their  claims  and 
returned  to  Illinois  to  oust  the  occupants  and  profit  by  their 
improvements.  Forged  titles  resulted  and  with  these  came  al- 
most endless  chains  of  entanglements  and  litigation. 


1  See  Van  Zandt,  A  full  description     .      .      .     of  the  Military  Lands  between 
tlie  Mississippi  and  Illinois  Rivers  (Washington,  1818). 

2  History  of  Fulton  County,  191 ;  J.  Flint,  Letters  from  America,  187  (Thwaites 
Ed.),  says,  shares  sold  even  so  low  as  half  a  dollar  per  acre. 

[Ill] 


-398  BULLETIN    OF    THE    UNIVERSITY    OF    WISCONSIN 

By  1831  eleven  counties  had  been  organized3  and  the  popu- 
lation of  the  entire  Tract  numbered  over  12,000  people,  five- 
sixths  of  whom  were  living  in  the  southern  part  in  the  counties 
of  Calhoun,  Pike,  Adams,  Schuyler  and  Fulton.4 

The  first  successful  settlement  in  the  Military  Tract  and  the 
only  one  before  1820  was  at  Peoria.  During  the  French  regime 
Peoria  had  acted  as  a  connecting  link  between  the  French  on 
the  lakes  and  those  on  the  Mississippi  but,  having  caused  the 
Americans  no  little  worry  during  the  War  of  1812  it  was  de- 
stroyed. At  that  date  the  village  was  a  small  one.5  Ft.  Clark 
was  erected  here  in  18136  and  in  1819  the  permanent  American 
•occupation  began,  the  earliest  settlers  coming  from  southern 
Illinois.7  There  were  several  other  settlements  in  the  county 
by  1830  but  of  no  great  importance.8 

Calhoun  county  at  the  extreme  southern  end  of  the  Tract, 
was  never,  during  the  entire  period,  thickly  settled.9  The  lum- 
"bering  industry  in  which  most  of  the  settlers  were  interested 
tended  to  make  the  population  an  unstable  one.  Here  we  see 
.an  example  of  settlement  which  is  an  exception  to  the  general 
rule.  Primarily  the  population  was  one  aiming  to  exploit  the 
lumbering  resources  of  the  district  but  there  was  also  a  farmer 
class.  On  the  Illinois  prairie  which  extends  along  the  foot  of 
the  bluffs  of  the  Illinois  river  was  the  farming  district  of  the 
county.  The  land  was  fertile  and  the  'bottom'  was  high 
enough  above  the  river  to  escape  flooding  which  in  many  locali- 
ties compelled  the  early  settlers  to  leave  the  cultivation  of  the 
most  fertile  parts  of  the  state  until  later  and  to  take  possession 
•of  the  higher  wooded  portions  first,  being  careful  to  remain 
as  near  as  possible  to  the  rivers  in  order  to  profit  by  transporta- 
tion facilities  which  they  offered. 


3  The  counties  organized  were  Calhoun,  Pike,  Adams,  Hancock,  Mercer,  Schuy- 
ler, Fulton,  Peoria,  McDonough,  Warren  and  Knox. 
« Seventh  Census  (1850),  701-702. 

c  There  were  sixteen  men  in  the  village.      (Balance,  History  of  Peoria,  18.) 
6  Life  of  Gurdon  8.  Hubltard,  28. 
T  Ballance,  History  of  Peoria,  45. 

8  Settlements  were  made  at  Chillicothe,  Logan,  Medina,  Trivoli  and  there  was 
•also  a  colony  of  Ohioans  in  Halleck  township.   (History  of  Peoria  County,  577, 
591,  604,  606,  618.) 

9  In  1830  there  were  over  1,000  settlers  in  the  county  and  in  1850  the  popula- 
tion was  a  little  over  3,000.      (Seventh  Census  (1850),  701.) 

[112] 


POOLEY SETTLEMENT    OF    ILLINOIS,    1830-50  399 

Pike  county,  which  received  its  first  settlers  in  1820  had  a 
population  of  2,400  in  1830. 10  The  county  extends  the  entire 
distance  between  the  Illinois  and  Mississippi  rivers  in  the  vicin- 
ity of  which  the  land  is  broken  and  covered  to  quite  an  extent 
with  timber.  Between  the  great  river  systems  are  rolling 
prairies  traversed  by  creeks  whose  banks  are  lined  with  timber 
making  the  district  one  admirably  fitted  for  meeting  the  desires 
of  the  pioneers.  The  county  consequently  filled  up  rapidly 
after  its  first  settlement  in  1820  and  in  1850  had  a  population 
of  18,800  people.11 

Schuyler  county  which  until  1839  included  Brown  county, 
was  in  1830  the  most  thickly  settled  county  of  the  Military 
Tract,  having  nearly  3,000  settlers.12  The  pioneers  even  at  this 
early  day  were  gathered  from  many  parts  of  the  country.  The 
first  settler  was  a  New  Englander  who  was  soon  followed  by 
a  colony  from  Kentucky.  Virginia,  New  York,  Pennsylvania, 
the  Carolinas,  Tennessee,  Indiana,  Ohio,  Missouri  and  Illinois 
each  contributed  settlers  early.13  The  settlements  were  small 
and  were  generally  placed  back  at  some  distance  from  the  river. 
Nearly  twenty  townships  had  received  settlers  before  1830.1* 

Fulton  county  was  organized  in  182315  having  been  cut  off 
from  Pike  county.  Lewiston  and  Canton  were  the  chief  settle- 
ments in  1830,  the  former  becoming  the  county  town. 

While  the  large  river  forming  the  eastern  boundry  of  these 
counties  was  the  highway  for  communication  with  the  rest  of 
the  country,  the  first  settlers  did  not  congregate  here.  A  few 
grouped  themselves  near  the  river  to  take  advantage  of  what 
little  commerce  there  was1,  but  as  a  rule  the  settlers,  being  inter- 
ested in  agriculture,  preferred  to  leave  the  river  bottoms  of 
the  large  streams  and  take  the  timber  land  along  the  smaller 
ones,  for  the  small  prairies  adjoining  relieved  the  pioneers  of 


0  Seventh  Census   (1850),  70?. 

1  IUd.,  702. 
*IUd.,  702. 

8  History  of  Schuyler  and  Brown  Counties.  58,  ff. 

4  History  of  Schuyler  and,  Brown  Counties,  267-373. 

5  The  county  was  supposed  to  have  had  three  hundred  and  fifty  voters  at 
the  time  of  organization  but  at  an  election  held  that  year  only  thirty-five  votes 
were  cast  (History  of  Fulton  County,  214). 


8  [  113  ] 


400  BULLETIN    OF    THE    UNIVEESITY    OF    WISCONSIN 

the  labor  of  making  clearings.  Moreover,  the  high  ground  back 
from  the  rivers  seemed  more  healthful,  for  in  the  bottoms  fever 
and  ague  were  enemies  greatly  feared.18 

Of  those  counties  bordering  on  the  Mississippi  river  Adams 
and  Hancock  were  the  most  thickly  settled.  The  first  settlers 
came  to  Adams  county  in  1820,  and  in  1825,  when  the  county 
was  organized,  forty  votes  were  cast  at  the  first  election.  Owing 
to  the  scarcity  of  money  and  to  the  fact  that  the  lands  were 
not  yet  on  the  market  immigration  to  this  county  was  slow. 
Quincy,  the  largest  settlement  and  the  seat  of  county  govern- 
ment/wasTfirst  settled  in  1822  and  by  1830  had  two  hundred  in- 
habitants.17 Various  other  smaller  settlements  brought  the  total 
population  of  the  county  up  to  about  2,200.18  The  names  Adams 
and  Quincy  both  given  in  honor  of  John  Quincy  Adams,  seem 
to  imply  the  presence  of  New,  Englanders  in  the  county  at  the 
time  of  organization  but  the  nativities  of  the  early  pioneers  show 
a  majority  of  people  from  other  sections  of  the  country  and 
especially  from  Kentucky. 

Hancock  county  also  on  the  Mississippi  river  had  but  five 
hundred  inhabitants,19  Venus,  later  to  be  known  as  Nauvoo,  be- 
ing the  chief  town.20  A  settlement"  which  had  been  made  at 
OciuawkaJ-anding  on  the  Mississippi  river  in  1828  was  the  only 
one  in  Henderson  county  in  1830.21  In  Mercer  county,  New 
Boston  and  Keithsburg  were  the  places  first  settled.  Here  some 
Pennsylvanians^  established  themselves  in  1827  and  earned  a 
livelihood  by  cutting  wood  for  Mississippi  river  steamboats. 
For  five  years  they  remained  but  at  the  first  Indian  alarm  they 
left  for  central  Illinois  and  Mercer  county  was  again  without 
inhabitants.22 

What  has  been  said  concerning  the  location  of  the  settlements 
in  the  counties  along  the  Illinois  river  will  apply  equally  well 


18  By  consulting  a  map  of  Illinois  it  will  be  noted  that  tfae  early  settlements 
of  Canton,  Lewiston,  Rnshville,  Ripley,  Cooperstown,  Mt.  Sterling,  Versailles 
and  others  are  all  placed  back  a  few  miles  from  the  Illinois  river. 

17  History  of  Adams  County,  259-268;  Asbury,  Quincy,  41. 

18  Seventh  Census    (1850),  701. 
"/bid.,  701. 

20  The  National  Calendar  (1830),  249. 

M  History  of  Mercer  and  Henderson  Counties,  869. 

»  IUd.,  46,  119. 


[114] 


POOLEY SETTLEMENT    OF    ILLINOIS,    183CH50  401 

to  the  settlements  along  the  Mississippi.  The  most  important 
town  on  this  side  of  the  Military  Tract  was,  however,  placed 
directly  upon  the  river.  The  location  was  admirable  and 
Quincy  enjoyed  all  the  advantages,  of  a  good  lauding  place 
and  a  healthful  site  on  a  high  bluff  over-hanging  the  river.  To 
the  rear  of  the  city  was  a  rich  agricultural  district  filling  up 
with  settlers  who,  when  their  crops  ripened,  carted  them  to 
Quincy  for  shipment  to  southern  markets.  Naturally  it  also 
became  the  distributing  point  for  the  back  country  and  through 
the  lively  trade  which  sprang  up  the  village  made  rapid  strides. 
The  other  early  settlements  in  these  counties  were  back  a  con- 
siderable distance  from  the  river,  the  pioneers  selecting  the 
timbered  tracts  bordering  the  small  prairies.23 

The  interior  counties  of  the  Military  Tract,  save  in  the  case 
of  Bureau,  had  very  few  settlers. in  1830.24  In  McDonough 
county  the  settlements  at  Pennington's  Point  and  Industry  in 
the  southern  part  of  the  county  seem  to  indicate  that  the  first 
settlement  was  made  from  the  counties  to  the  south.  Nearly 
all  the  pioneers  were  from  Kentucky  and  Tennessee  and  it  is 
probable  that  they  followed  up  the  tributaries  of  the  Illinois 
which  flow  through  Schuyler  county.  Probably  there  were  not 
more  than  sixty  voters  in  the  county  in  1830.25  The  settlement 
of  "Warren26  and  Knox27  counties  began  in  1827  when  a  fam- 
ily of  New  Englanders  settled  in  the  former.  Stories  of  a  rich 
agricultural  district  were  carried  back  to  the  older  settlements  of 
Illinois  by  the  'bee-hunters'  who  passed  through  Knox  county 
in  1827  and  in  the  following  year  pioneers  from  Schuyler 
county  came  to  settle  here.  Several  settlements  were  started 
and  in  1830  the  combined  population  of  the  counties  numbered 
about  five  hundred  people.28  Bureau  county  had  but  five  fami- 


23  The  other  early  settlements  were  in  Adams  county  and  were  Camp   Point, 
Clayton,  Columbus,  Ellington  and  Fall  Creek.     All  wei'e  in  the  interior. 

24  McDonough,   Knox,   Stark,   Bureau   and   Henry   counties   had  about  six  hun- 
dred in  all  (Seventh  Census   (1850),  701). 

25  Clarke,  History  of  McDonough  County,  19. 
x  History  of  Warren  County,  107. 

27  Hi&tcry  of  Knox  County,  102. 
**  Seventh  Census  (1850),  701,  702. 


[115] 


402  BULLETIN"    OF    THE    UNIVERSITY    OF    WISCONSIN 

lies  in  1828  although  the  first  settlement  had  been  made  in 
1820.29 

Such  were  the  settlements  of  the  Military  Tract  in  1830.  By 
far  the  greater  part  of  the  population  was  in  the  southern  part 
of  the  Tract  close  to  the  more  thickly  settled  districts  of  cen- 
tral Illinois.  There  were  no  towns  of  any  consequence  save 
Quincy,  and  the  prairie  district  of  the  north  was  practically 
untouched.  The  pioneers  were  chiefly  southerners.  From  1831 
to  1850  Calhoun  county  did  not  increase  rapidly  in  population 
since  it  did  not  offer  the  advantages  for  agriculture  that  were  to 
be  found  in  other  parts  of  the  state.  When  the  lumber  industry 
began  to  wane  the  stream  of  settlers  decreased  accordingly. 
Four  small  villages  formed  the  urban  population  in  1850.30 
''.Zlke— county  added  over  16,000  settlers  during  the  twenty 
years  and  since  there  were  but  three  villages  in  the  county  in 
1850,  it  is  natural  to  believe  that  the  population  was  almost  en- 
tirely rural.31  The  pioneers  had  for  a  time  remained  as  close 
.:  as  possible  to  the  timber  but  by  1850  there  were  settlements  on 
the  small  prairies.32  ' '  Corncrackers  and  Hoosiers  with  a  right 
smart  sprinkling  of  Yankees"  made  up  the  population  but  al- 
most every  state  in  the  union  was  represented  here.  A  Mor- 
mon town  had  been  founded  and  had  declined  before  1850.33 

The  Illinois  river  counties1,34  Schuyler,  Fulton  and  Peoria,  had 
in  1830  an  aggregate  population  of  5,000  and  ten  years  later 
their  population  amounted  to  over  26,000.35  Before  Brown 
county  was  cut  off  from  Schuyler  in  1839,  La  Grange  and  Mt. 


28  It  was  not  a  permanent  settlement,  being  made  by  a  French  fur  trader 
named  Bourbonnais.  He  was  In  the  employ  of  the  American  Fur  Company 
(History  of  Bureau  County,  79-83). 

80  Gilead,  Hardin,  Illinois  and  Point  were  the  settlements.  Each  had  between 
five  and  eight  hundred  settlers.  (Seventh  Census  (1850),  704.) 

11  Pittsfleld,  Perry  and  Griggsfield,  each  with  less  than  seven  hundred  inhabi- 
tants, were  the  villages.  (Seventh  Census  (1850),  714.) 

82  Almost  half  the  county  was  under  cultivation  (Peyton,  Statistical  view  of 
Illinois,  13). 

88  History  of  Pike  County,  239. 

84  For  convenience  of  treatment  the  counties  of  the  tract  will  now  be  divided 
into    three   sections.     The    Illinois    river    counties    being    Schuyler,    Fulton    and 
Peoria ;   the   Mississippi   river   counties  being   Adams,   Hancock,   Henderson   and 
Mercer ;  the  counties  of  McDonough,  Warren,  Knox,   Stark,  Henry  and  Bureau 
being  classed  as  the  inland  counties. 

85  Seventh  Census  (1850),  701,  702. 

[116] 


POOLEY SETTLEMENT    OF    ILLINOIS,    1830-50  403 

Sterling  had  become  towns  of  some  importance.  Several  east- 
ern parties  were  engaged  in  business  at  the  former  place,  which, 
owing  to  its  situation  upon  the  Illinois  river,  became  a  port  of 
some  consequence  in  the  river  traffic.  All  the  goods  shipped 
to  the  county  came  up  the  river  and  La  Grange  was  the  landing 
place  as  well  as  the  shipping  point  for  the  back  country  towns, 
especially  Mt.  Sterling  and  Versailles.36 

Mt.  Sterling,  which  was  to  be  the  county  town  of  Brown 
county  when  organized,  enjoyed  but  slow  growth  before  1834 
when  a  revival  of  energy  took  place,  the  village  growing  to  one 
of  fifty  houses  by  1837.37  The  same  revival  of  energy  which 
was  the  result  of  the  speculative  spirit  which  swept  over  the 
country  during  the  decade  also  gave  Brown  county  its  first  ex- 
perience with  "paper  towns,"  "Washington  being  laid  out  in 

1836.38  No  further  development  was  made,  however. 
Rushville,  Frederieksville,  Huntsville  and  Birmingham  were 

the  principal  towns  of  Schuyler  county  in  1850.  Rushville 
enjoyed  a  steady  growth  from  the  time  of  its  establishment  in 
1829.  A  wool  carding  factory  and  other  industries,  begun1  in 

1831.39  drew  laborers  and  mechanics  to  the  village  which  by 
1832  had  four  hundred  inhabitants  clustered  about  five  little 
stores.40     Cholera  during  the  year  of  1834  swept  away  many 
of  the  settlers  but  the  little  village  continued  to  grow  until  in 
1837  it  was  a  town  of  1,200  inhabitants  having  five  churches, 
twelve  stores  and  four  hundred  houses.41    Most  of  the  houses 
were   frame   ones,   the   lumber   probably   being  brought   from 
Calhoun  county  where  the  industry  was  carried  on  rather  ex- 
tensively.    Frederieksville  on  the  Illinois  river  was  of  some  im- 
portance as  a  shipping  point.     The  other  named  towns  were 
still  young  and  small,  having  been  laid  out  in  1836.42 

Fulton  county  from  1830  to  1840  gained  12,300  inhabitants, 
most  of  them  going  to  the  rural  districts.43  Canton  was  a 


38  History  of  ScTiuyler  and  Brown  counties,  322. 

37  Illinois  in  1837,  105. 

**  History  of  Scnuyler  and  Brown  counties,  271. 

**Tbid.,  234. 

*9  Illinois  Monthly  Magazine,  2,  260. 

«  Illinois  in  1837,  128. 

42  History  of  ScJiuyler  and  Brown  counties,  363-373. 

43  Seventh  Census   (1850),  701. 

[117] 


404  BULLETIN    OF    THE    UNIVERSITY    OF    WISCONSIN 

village  of  four  hundred  people  in  1835,44  when  it  was  completely 
destroyed  by  a  storm.45  It  had  recovered  some  of  its  import- 
ance by  1837  when  with  Lewiston  and  Farminton  it  was 
named  as  one  of  the  largest  settlements  hi  the  county.48  "Wash- 
ington, Fairview,  Middleton,  Liverpool,  Ellisville  and  Bema- 
dotte,  all  small  towns  consisting  of  a  few  cabins  and  a  store, 
make  tip  the  list  of  Fulton  county  settlements.  Vermont,  a 
similar  village  seems  to  imply  by  its  name  a  New  England  set- 
tlement which,  however,  was  not  true.  Kentuckians  made  the 
settlement  but  the  name  was  given  by  the  solitary  New  Eng- 
lander  residing  there,  he  having  purchased  with  a  jug  of 
whiskey  the  right  to  name  the  settlement.47 

Pepria  county  had  in  1840  over  6,000  settlers48  and  the  town 
of  Pepria  was  the  chief  center  of  population.  The  town  had  a 
favorable  location  being  placed  on  a  high  bluff  at  the  foot  of 
Peoria  lake.  In  1832  it  was  a  small  village  of  fifteen  or  twenty 
log  cabins  but  being  the  strongest  one  in  this  part  of  the  frontier 
it  was  the  place  of  refuge  for  the  pioneers  who  fled  from  the 
northern  districts  at  the  opening  of  the  Black  Hawk  War.49 
Communication  by  steamboats  on  the  Illinois  river  and  by 
stages  overland  kept  Peoria  in  touch  with  the  neighboring 
settlements.  In  1834  the  population  was  estimated  at  between 
three  and  four  hundred50  and  a  year  later  at  over  eight  hun- 
dred.51 In  this  last  year  the  first  Germans52  came  to  settle  here 
and  in  1836  New  Englanders  first  appeared  in  the  town.53  By 
1837  it  was  a  thriving  town.54  Home,  Chillicothe,  Brimfield, 
Northampton,  Allentown,  Kickapoo,  Hudson  and  Caledonia 
were  settlements  of  lesser  note.55 


44  History  of  Fulton  county,  527. 

45  Chicago  Weekly  American,  July  4,  1835. 

46  Illinois  in  18S7,  78-118. 

47  History  of  Fulton  county,  899. 

48  Seventh  Census  (1850),  702. 

49  History  of  Peoria  county,  451. 

80  Chicago  Weekly  Democrat,  June  4,  1834. 

51  St.  Louis  Commercial  Bulletin,  Dec.  18,  1835. 

52  History  of  Peoria  county,   489. 
M  Western  Messenger,  April,  1836. 

54  Illinois  in  1837,  126,  says  that  Peoria  had  twenty-five  stores,  two  hotels,  sis 
churches  and  over  1,600  inhabitants. 

55  History  of  Peoria  county,  572-577. 


[118] 


POOLEY SETTLEMENT    OF    ILLINOIS,    1830-50  405 

Of  the  Mississippi  river  counties,  Adams  county  gained  over 
12,000  inhabitants  during  the  decade.56  Quincy  with  its  ad- 
vantageous location  grew  with  equal  rapidity.  For  several 
years  the  lack  of  good  building  material  and  the  high  price  of 
lumber  were  difficulties1  to  be  overcome  but  the  village  doubled 
its  population  from  1830  to  1832  and  at  the  time  of  its  incor- 
poration in  1834  its  population  was  estimated  at  six  hundred.57 

During  the  next  few  years  while  the  state  enjoyed  great 
prosperity,  Qu-iney  continued  to  develop  and  the  tide  of  immi- 
gration increased  steadily  until  in  1838  the  village  had  a  popu- 
lation of  1,500  or  more,58  making  it  the  largest  settlement  in 
the  Military  Tract.59  Its  importance  as  a  shipping  point  for 
agricultural  products  was  now  recognized,  three  hundred  steam- 
boats arriving  or  leaving  during  the  year  of  1837,  while  the 
trade  in  pork,  flour  and  wheat  amounted  to  $112,500  for  that 
year.60  Sawmills  were  kept  busy  supplying  lumber  for  new 
buildings  and  with  the  increased  demand  for  laborers  the  float- 
ing population  grew.  The  population  was  derived  from  all 
countries  but  Yankees  and  Kentuckians  were  in  the  majority 
and  about  equally  divided.61  In  1840  Quincy  obtained  a  city 
charter.62 

Outside  of  Quincy  there  were  no  settlements  of  much  im- 
portance. Payson,  which  was  laid  out  in  1835,  was  surrounded 
by  a  rich  agricultural  district  and  for  a  time  gave  promise  of 
becoming  an  important  settlement  but  the  development  so  well 
begun  soon  ceased,  probably  owing  to  the  rivalry  with  Quincy.68 
The  remaining  settlements  were  small  being  only  agricultural 
villages  giving  little  promise  of  immediate  development. 


58  Seventh  Census  (1850),  701. 
57  Asbury,   Quincy,  44. 

88  Estimates  varied;    1,500    (Illinois   in  1837,    127);    1,053    (Redmond,   Quincy, 
15)  ;  3,000  (Buckingham,  Eastern  and  Western  states,  3,  162). 

59  In    1835    Quincy    had    a    population   of    seven    hundred    people.     (Redmond, 
Quincy,   14.)     There  were  ten  stores,   a   printing  office  and  over  one  hundred 
houses  in   the  village.      (Asbury,   Quincy,  47.)     In   1837  there  were  twenty-five 
stores,  a  land  office,  three  taverns,  two  saw  rni'.ls  and  two  churches.      (Illinois 
in  1837,  127.) 

60  Redmond,  Quincy,  15. 

81  Asbury,   Quincy,  47. 

82  History  of  Adams  county,  454. 

83  Ibid.,  551. 

[119] 


406  BULLETIN    OF    THE    UNIVERSITY    OF    "WISCONSIN" 

Although  Hancock  increased  steadily  in  number  of  settlers 
it  is  difficult  to  speak  accurately  concerning  their  location  since 
there  were  no  towns  of  size  in  the  county.  Warsaw  on  the 
bank  of  the  Mississippi  was  laid  out  in  1834  but  did  not  grow 
to  any  size  for  a  number  of  years.64  Venus,  also  well  located 
on  the  great  river,  was  slow  in  growth.  The  name  was  early 
changed  to  Commerce  which  was  in  turn  to  be  forgotten  when, 
under  the  regime  of  Joseph  Smith,  Nauvoo  rose  upon  the  site 
of  Venus.  Before  the  coming  of  the  Mormons  it  had  a  few 
hundred  inhabitants  and  such  facilities  for  business  as  were 
generally  found  in  pioneer  towns.65  Carthage  and  Fountain 
Green,  both  later  to  be  connected  with  the  history  of  the  Mor- 
mon occupation,  were  the  chief  interior  settlements.  Pulaski, 
Chili  and  La  Harpe  may  also  be  mentioned.66 

Henderson  county,  as  yet  unorganized,  had  some  small  settle- 
ments. Oquawka,  laid  out  in  1836,  was  probably  of  the  great- 
est importance,  being  for  years,  until  the  building  of  the  rail- 
roads, the  shipping  point  for  the  produce  of  Knox,  Henderson 
and  Mercer  counties.67  Shokokon,  also  a  river  town,  was  the 
center  of  a  rich  agricultural  district  and  would  probably  have 
increased  in  importance  had  it  possessed  the  advantage  of  a 
good  landing.  The  river,  however,  was  too  shallow  here  for 
the  boats  and  instead  of  becoming  a  shipping  point  it  developed 
the  lumber  industry.  Rafts  came  down  from  "Wisconsin  and 
were  sawed  here.  Its  population  never  exceeded  three  hun- 
dred persons.88 

Mercer  county,  although  organized  in  1825  grew  very  slowly 
for  ten  years,  there  being  not  more  than  two  hundred  and  fifty 
settlers  within  its  limits  in  1835.69  In  1840  there  were  almost 
10,000  people  here.70  Keithsburg  and  New  Boston  were  the 
river  towns  but  neither  was  of  importance  and  of  the  numer- 


64  History  of  Hancock  county,  638. 

65  Overland  Monthly,  16,  N.  S.  620. 

66  History  of  Hancock  county,  passim. 

87  History  of  Henderson  and  Mercer  counties,  887. 

68  Ibid.,  888. 

**n)id.,  48. 

70 Seventh  Census  (1850),  702. 


[120] 


POOLEY SETTLEMENT    OF    ILLINOIS,    1830-50  407 

ous  inland  settlements  Sugar  Grove,  settled  by  Tennesseeansr 
seems  to  have  been  the  most  thriving  community.71 

The  inland  counties  of  the  Tract,  McDonough,  Warren,  Knoxr 
Stark,  Henry  and  Bureau  were  all  organized  in  the  decade 
1831-1840  and  had  in  1830  a  combined  population  of  a  few 
more  than  six  hundred  inhabitants.72  After  the  close  of  the 
Black  Hawk  War  the  report  was  spread  about  that  this  portion 
of  the  state  was  exceedingly  fertile  and  would  make  an  excellent 
place  for  settlement.  Accordingly,  immigrants  began  to  find 
their  way  up  the  rivers  and  over  the  prairies  from  Ohio,  In- 
diana and  various  other  places. 

During  the  first  few  years  immediately  following  the  war 
but  little  of  note  happened  in  McDonough  county  and  but  few 
families  moved  in.  The  population,  however,  increased  to  over 
2,800  before  the  close  of  1835.73  Macomb,  the  seat  of  justice, 
Edmonson's  Prairie  and  Middletown  were  struggling  settle- 
ments in  1835.  From  1837  to  1845  there  were  hard  times  in 
McDonough  county  owing  to  the  financial  depression  through- 
out the  state.  Money  was  almost  unknown  and  all  business 
transactions  were  carried  on  by  means  of  barter,  notes  often 
being  made  payable  in  a  cow,  a  horse  or  half  a  dozen  hogs.74  In 
spite  of  the  handicap,  settlement  increased  and,  at  the  close  of 
the  decade  1831-1840,  numbered  over  5,000  inhabitants.75 

After  1832  scattered  settlements  were  located  at  various 
points  an  Warren  county  and  everywhere  the  pioneers  peti- 
tioned the  county  commissioners  court  for  roads  to  connect  the- 
widely  scattered  hamlets  with  market  places.  Monmouth,  the 
chief  town,  had  but  eighty  inhabitants  in  1835  but  grew  more 
rapidly  during  the  closing  years  of  the  decade.76  The  popula- 
tion of  the  entire  county  in  1840  was  a  little  over  6,700  people.77 

In  1831  half  a  dozen  weak  settlements  comprised  all  of  Knox 


71  Sugar   Grove   had   sixty   settlers   in    1835.     The   other   settlements   were   in 
Ohio   Grove,   Abington,    Suez,   Greene,    Pre-emption,   Richland   Grove,   Rivoli   and 
Eliza  townships.     (History  of  Henderson  and  Mercer  counties,  272-742.) 

72  Seventh  Census  (1850),  701,  702. 

78  Clarke,  History  of  McDonough  county,  76. 
74  Clarke,  History  of  McDonough  county,  60. 
75 Seventh  Census  (1850),  701. 
78  Past  and  Present  of  Warren  county,  142. 
" Seventh  Census  (1850),  702. 

[121] 


408  BULLETIN    OF    THE    UNIVERSITY    OF    WISCONSIN 

county's  population  but  at  the  close  of  the  decade  there  were 
7,000  settlers  within  the  limits  of  the  county.78  In  1835  Knox- 
ville  with  a  population  of  two  hundred  people  was  the  chief 
town.79  A  year  later  Galesb.urg,  which  was  destined  to  be  the 
most  important  city  of  the  county,  was  founded.  In  1834  Rev. 
George  W.  Gale  of  Oneida  county,  New  York,  matured  a  plan 
for  planting  a  colony  in  the  West  which  should  be  a  center  of 
moral  and  intellectual  influence.  Later  he  issued  a  circular 
setting  forth  his  plan  and  soliciting  subscribers.  A  committee 
for  exploration  was  sent  out  and  upon  its  recommendation  the 
present  site  of  Galesburg  was  purchased  in  1835.  Early  in  the 
next  year  a  colony  of  forty  persons80  left  New  York  and  came 
by  canal  boat  up  the  Illinois  river  to  a  convenient  landing  place, 
traveling  from  there  overland.  Log  City  was  the  name  first 
given  to  the  settlement  and  by  1837  its  populatpn  was  estimated 
at  two  hundred  and  thirty.81  In  ten  townships  settlements  had 
been  located  before  1840  but  it  seems  nearly  impossible  to  deter- 
mine their  size.82 

Henry  county  which  had  but  1,260  settlers  in   184083  was 
occupied  first  by  colonies  thereby  being  an  exception  to  the  gen- 
eral rule  governing  the  settlement  of  the  state.     When  specu- 
lation in  Illinois  lands  got  fairly  under  way  in  1835,  Henry 
county  became  the  scene  of  an  exceptionally  large  number  of 
this  experimental  class  of  settlements.     Persons  authorized  to 
purchase  large  tracts  of  land  visited  the  county  during  that 
year  and  much  to  the  detriment  of  the  individual  settlers,  if 
not  to  the  benefit  of  the  companies  represented,  made  purchases. 
I  As  a  result,  Andover,  Wethersfield,   Geneseo,  Morristown,  La 
'  Grange,  and  later  the  Bishop  Hill  colonies  were  established.84 
I  The  first  three  had  religious  aims  and  all  aimed  at  the__dis- 
'  semination  of  education_save  possibly  the  Bishop  Hill  colony " 

which  seems  to  have  been  strictly  religious. 

. \ 

78  Ibid.,  702. 

79  History  of  Knox  county,  629. 

80  Stories  of  the  Pioneer  Mothers   of  Illinois.     (Letter   of   Mary   Allen  West. 
MSS.  in  Illinois  Historical  Society  Library.) 

81  Bascom,  Settlement  of  Galesburg,  25. 

82  History  of  Knox  County,  479-507. 

83  Seventh  Census  (1850),  701. 
**  History  of  Henry  County,  117. 

[132] 


POOLEY SETTLEMENT    OF    ILLINOIS,    1830-50  409 

First  of  these  experiments  was  the  Andover  settlement,  situ- 
ated a  few  miles  southwest  of  the  center  of  the  county.  A  com- 
mittee acting  for  a  New  York  association  located  a  tract  of  land 
here  in  1835^began  the  first  settlement  upon  it  and  platted  a 
city.  Success  did  not  crown  their  efforts  to  any  marked  degree 
for  the  land  was  held  by  the  proprietors  at  too  high  a  price  and 
immigrants  passed  it  by.85 

Keturning  from  the  planting  of  the  Andover  colony,  Mr.  Pills- 
bury,  one  of  the  committee,  immediately  attempted  to  interest 
Dr.  Tjenney,  an  influential  minister  of  Wethersfield,  Connecti- 
cut, in  a  similar  undertaking.  An  association  of  sixty  men 
with  a  capital  stock  of  $25,000  was  formed,  land  was  purchased 
in  Henry  county  and  a  settlement  begun.86  Few  of  the  pur- 
chasers came  west  and  consequently  the  growth  of  the  settle- 
ment was  slow. 

During  the  winter  of  1834—35  notices  were  published  in  several 
of  the  New  York  papers  calling  a  meeting  of  all  people  interested 
in  western  colonization.  The  result  was  the  formation  of  a  New 
York  colony  and  the  appointment  of  the  usual  committee  for 
exploration  and  purchase.  The  committee  purchased  20,000 
acres  of  land  in  Henry  county.  Each  member  of  the  colony 
bound  himself  to  erect  upon  his  claim  buildings  to  the  value  of 
two  hundred  dollars  and  should  this  provision  not  be  carried 
out  the  land  should  revert  to  the  company  on  the  grounds  of  a 
broken  contract.  Moreover  it  was  provided  that  the  settlers  who 
fulfilled  their  contracts  should  be  allowed  to  take  the  claims  of 
the  delinquent  ones  by  paying  three  dollars  an  acre,  or  double 
the  original  price  of  the  claim.  Seeing  the  possibility  of  making 
a  good  bargain  at  least  four-fifths  of  the  colonists  failed  to  ful- 
fill the  building  contract  and  by  so  doing  doubled  their  money. 
Many,  however,  were  honest  in  their  intentions  but  were  pre- 
vented from  carrying  them  out  because  of  the  panic  of  1837 
which  came  before  the  two  years  had  expired.  The  most  de- 
sirable lots  were  put  up  at  auction  and  some  six  or  seven  thou- 


85  History  of  Henry  County,  524. 

86  The  shares  In  the  company  sold  for  two  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  each  and 
entitled  the  purchaser  to  one  hundred  and  eighty  acres  of  land,  twenty  of  which 
were  to  be  timber  land  (History  of  Henry  County,  137-140). 

[123] 


410  BULLETIN    OF    THE    UNIVERSITY    OF    WISCONSIN 

sand  dollars  resulted  to  the  association  with  which  fund  a  pub- 
lic lodging  house  was  built  for  the  accommodation  of  colonists 
until  they  were  able  to  erect  their  own  abodes.  A  few  colonists 
came  in  1836,  five  in  all  and  by  1837  there  were  but  ten  families- 
on  the  whole  prairie.87  One  more  experiment  therefore  could, 
for  the  time,  be  called  a  failure. 

As  a  result  of  a  religious  revival  of  unusual  excitement  in< 
New  York  the  Geneseo  colony  was  established  in  Henry  county 
in  1836.  The  idea  was  conceived  in  1831  and  after  proper  ex- 
ploration a  colony  was  formed.  A  village  was  to  be  laid  out  in 
lots  and  the  lots  were  to  be  sold  only  to  such  men'  as  were  of 
good  character.  The  proceeds  were  to  go  towards  building  a 
high  school. 

In  September,  1836,  forty  persons  in  wagons  started-  across 
Canada,  southern  Michigan  and  northern  Indiana  to  Illinois. 
The  journey  took  nine  weeks  and  when  the  little  colony  reached 
its  future  home  the  members  could  not  have  been  very  favorably 
impressed  with  the  outlook.  Their  nearest  neighbor  on  the  west 
was  at  Rock  Island,  twenty-five  miles  away;  on  the  south  the- 
Andover  and  Wethersfield  colonies  were  just  establishing  them- 
selves; on  the  east  the  Northampton  colony  was  struggling  to- 
gain  a  foothold  at  Princeton  and  on  the  north  a  fdw  straggling- 
families  lived  along  the  Eock  river.  However,  the  colony  erected 
its  canvas  roofed  church,  opened  its  school  and  proceeded  ta 
make  the  best  of  the  situation.88 

Henry  county  had  but  few  settlers  in  1840  and  the  settlement 
does  not  seem  to  have  been  a  natural  one.  Speculation  was  rag- 
ing in  the  eastern  states  and  the  hope  of  sudden  riches  tempted' 
many  to  invest  in  western  lands.  Settlements  would  increase 
the  value  of  the  holdings  so  it  is  natural  to  believe  that  land 
owners  would  also  be  promoters  of  colonizing  schemes  and  to» 
this  it  seems  were  due  the  colonies  of  Henry  county. 

Bureau  county  was  settled  slowly  before  the  Black  Hawk 
War.  Being  a  frontier  county  its  inhabitants  were  exposed  to- 
Indian  attacks  and  few  of  the  pioneers,  daring  as  they  might  be, 
cared  to  risk  their  lives  on  the  extreme  frontier  when  it  offered! 


87  History  of  Henry  County,  135. 

88  Thirtieth  Anniversary  of  the  Settlement  of  Geneseo,  3-9. 

[124] 


POOLEY SETTLEMENT    OF    ILLINOIS,    1830-50  411 

no  advantages  superior  to  those  of  the  more  protected  parts. 
By  1831  only  sixteen  families  resided  within  the  limits  of  Bureau 
county.  A  year  later  there  were  forty  cabins  in  the  county, 
thirty  of  which  were  grouped  on  Bureau  creek  in  the  south- 
eastern part.  The  largest  settlement  was  that  at  Princeton 
which  was  composed  of  nine  families.89 

Princeton  was  settled  in  1831  by  a  colony  from  Northampton, 
Massachusetts.  It  was  the  first  of  a  series  of  attempts  at  colo- 
nization, such  as  have  been  spoken  of  in  Henry  county.  The 
Hampshire  colony,  as  it  was  called,  assembled  at  Albany,  New 
York,  in  May,  1831,  and  began  its  journey  westward  by  way  of 
the  Great  Lakes  to  the  St.  Jo  river  in  Michigan,  whence  the  lit- 
tle caravan  proceeded  on  foot  to  the  Kankakee  river  and  floated 
down  it  on  a  craft  composed  of  two  canoes  lashed  together.  One 
lone  settler  occupied  the  site  of  Princeton  when  the  colony  ar- 
rived. The  members  established  themselves  here  and  called  the 
place  Greenfield  and  although  a  settlement  of  a  very  small  size, 
it  became  in  later  years  the  nucleus1  of  a  considerable  New  Eng- 
land population.90  A  dozen  other  small  settlements  were  begun 
in  the  early  years  of  the  decade,  Bureau  and  Selby  being  the  most 
important  ones  and  these  having  but  four  families  each.91 

In  1836  the  influx  began,  for  the  wave  which  had  started  some 
years  before  from  the  eastern  states  as  a  result  of  the  specula- 
tion craze  was  just  reaching  the  western  prairies  of  Illinois. 
The  land  had  come  into  the  market  in  1835  and  nearly  all  the 
good  timber  land  was  taken  up  at  once.  In  1836  the  popula- 
tion of  the  county  doubled,  but  even  then  there  were  few  people 
here.92  In  the  entire  county  there  was  but  one  meeting-house, 
two  or  three  log  school  houses,  two  surveyed  roads  and  not  a 
bridge.93  Lamoille  in  the  northeastern  part  of  the  county  was 
laid  out  in  1836.  A  store  and  a  postoffice  were  added  the  next 
year  and  a  year  later,  a  hotel.9* 

Another  colony  of  New  Englanders  was  established  about  ten 


88  Taxpayers  and  Voters  of  Bureau  County,  90-91. 

90  Matson,  Reminiscences  of  Bureau  County,  261. 

91  Taxpayers  and  Voters  of  Bureau  County,  102. 

92  Ibid.,  102. 

83  Matson,  Reminiscences  of  Bureau  County,  397. 
91  Taxpayers  and  Voters  of  Bureau  County,  135. 


[125] 


412  BULLETIN    OF    THE    UNIVERSITY    OF    WISCONSIN 

miles  southwest  of  Princeton  in  1836.  The  colony  had  been 
organized  at  Providence,  Rhode  Island  and  having  taken  the 
usual  steps  for  exploration,  had  purchased  17,000  acres.  In' 
1837,  forty  persons  came  to  the  proposed  site  of  Providence 
village.  For  some  time  they  resided  in  the  colony  house  but 
soon  were  able  to  erect  dwellings  for  themselves.  Like  all  other 
colonies  sent  out  during  this  period  of  experimentation  and 
speculation,  the  greatest  success  did  not  attend  the  venture,  but 
the  colony  added  wealth  and  numbers  to  the  slowly  growing 
county  which  in  1840  had  but  3,000  inhabitants.95 

The  decade  1831-1840  was  one  of  rapid  development  in  the 
i  Military  Tract  and  the  bulk  of  the  population  was  still  in  the 
I  counties  along  the  rivers.96  The  process1  of  settlement  was 
the  same  as  had  taken  place  in  the  decade  previous.  The  new 
settlements  along  the  tributaries  of  the  large  streams  multiplied 
but  the  growth  of  the  older  settlements  was  not  rapid,  since  the 
tendency  displayed  by  the  pioneers  was  ever  to  move  towards 
the  interior,  taking  up  such  land  as  was  near  the  timber,  and  to 
shun  the  older  settlements.  This  last  characteristic  was  a 
natural  one  for  the  timber  lands  in  the  older  settled  regions  had 
long  been  occupied  and  prices  had  advanced  beyond  what  the 
pioneer  could  afford  to  pay.  He  was  compelled,  therefore,  to 
move  on  to  the  prairie  or  toward  the  frontier  and  at  this  date  he 
preferred  the  latter  alternative  as  the  great  number  of  new 
settlements  in  the  interior  shows. 

In  some  cases  the  hitherto  unoccupied  bottom  lands  were 
taken  up  as  the  settlements  of  Rome,  Chillicothe,  Fredericks- 
ville,  Oquawka  and  others  show.  Along  the  numerous  wooded 
tributaries  of  Spoon  river  and  Crooked  creek  which  penetrated 
the  Military  Tract,  settlements  were  frequent  and  upon  these 
settlements  as  bases  the  later  pioneers  were  to  build  when  they 


66  Seventh  Census  (1850),  701. 

*>In  1850  the  population  of  Pike  f.nd  Cfllhoun  counties  was  13,469,  a  numeri- 
cal  gain  of  9,983  and  a  per  cent,  gain  of  286 ;  the  population  of  the  Mi  sissippi 
river  counties  was  26,774,  a  numerical  gain  of  24,079  and  a  per  cent,  gain  of 
893 ;  the  population  of  the  Illinois  river  counties  was  30,450,  a  numerical  gain 
of  25,094  and  a  per  cent,  gain  of  468 ;  the  northern  counties  had  a  population 
of  25.007,  a  numerical  gain  of  24,384  and  a  per  cent,  gain  of  almost  4,000. 
Bcrenth  Census  (1850),  701-702. 

[  126  ] 


POOLEY SETTLEMENT    OF    ILLINOIS,,    1830-50  413 

began  to  experiment  more  seriously  with  the  problem  of  the 
prairies. 

The  colonial  attempts  at  settlement  were  a  new  departure 
and  while  as  a  general  rule  the  colonies  were  not  successful 
they  seem  to  indicate  that  aside  from  the  desire  to  make  money 
the  people  felt  that  by  systematic  organization  and  numbers 
the  prairies  could  be  subdued.  They  were  attempts  to  establish 
settlements  which  would  be  self-sufficing  for  a  time  at  least. 

The  decade  1841-1850  was  also  one  of  considerable  advance- 
ment. During  the  early  years  of  the  decade  financial  troubles 
hindered  the  growth  of  settlement  for  the  time;  the  state  was 
in  distress,  being  overloaded  with  debt  and  thinking  seriously 
of  repudiation  but  still  attempting  to  stave  off  disaster  as  long 
as  possible  by  heavy  taxation.  The  farmers  could  get  little 
for  their  produce  and  even  these  small  prices  were  not  paid  in 
cash.  Money  was  so  scarce  that  it  was  next  to  impossible  to 
get  enough  to  buy  government  lands,  however  low  the  price 
might  be.  In  some  places  the  settlers  borrowed  money  at  fifty 
per  cent,  in  order  to  get  a  clear  title  to  their  lands.97  When  the 
state  gradually  emerged  from  its  difficult  position,  times  became 
better,  money  looser,  taxes  lower,  confidence  greater  and  settle- 
ment began  again  to  extend. 

The  growth  of  the  Illinois  river  counties  seems  to  have  been 
slow  during  the  first  half  of  the  decade  but  was  more  rapid 
after  1845.  Peoria  was  the  most  important  city  along  the  Ill- 
inois river,  having  enjoyed  a  rapid  increase  in  numbers98  and 
being  a  substantially  built  city  well  supplied  with  churches  and 
schools.99  It  wore  a  marked  New  England  aspect.100 

Mt.  Sterling  in  Brown  county  with  five  hundred  and  fifty 
inhabitants,  Kushville  in  Schuyler  county  with  twenty-six 
hundred,  Canton  and  Lewiston  in  Fulton  county  with  over 
fifteen  hundred  inhabitants  each,  were  the  chief  villages  of  the 
Illinois  river  counties.  Fulton  county  had  a  population  grouped 


97  History  of  Henderson  and  Mercer  Counties,  625. 

98  Estimates  of  Peoria's  population  are  as  follows :     In  1844,  1,619 ;  in  1847, 
4,079;  In  1849,  5,061,   (Ballance,  Peoria,  204)  ;  in  1850,  5,890,  (Drown,  Histori- 
cal View  of  Peoria,  148.) 

89  Prairie  Farmer,  7,  30. 

100Curtiss,  Western  Portraiture,  317. 


[127] 


414  BULLETIN    OF    THE    UNIVERSITY    OF    WISCONSIN 

in  several  comparatively  large  settlements,  for  nine  in  the  county 
were  credited  with  more  than  one  thousand  inhabitants  in 
I860.101  The  whole  district  had  in  1850  a  population  aggregat- 
ing almost  59,000  being  nearly  double  the  population  of  1840.102 
There  were  281,000  acres  of  land  under  cultivation  in  1850 
which  shows  the  development  of  the  farming  portions  of  these 
•counties.103 

Adams  county  was  still  the  most  populous  district  along  the 
Mississippi  river  as  well  as  in  the  entire  Military  Tract.  Quincy 
grew  apace  in  numbers  and  commercial  importance  and  in  1850 
had  a  population  of  nearly  7,000,  being  second  of  Illinois  cities 
in  size.104  The  influence  of  its  favorable  location  is  even  more 
marked  after  1840  than  before.  A  great  deal  of  business  was 
transacted  here  annually.  In  1841,  $330,000  worth  of  merchan- 
dise was  disposed  of  in  the  city  and  420,000  bushels  of  grain 
exported.105  The  manufacture  of  flour  which  had  begun  some 
years  before  'was  now  a  rapidly  increasing  industry  for  the  out- 
put which  numbered  21,500  barrels  in  1843  had  reached  68,000 
barrels  per  annum  in  1846.  Pork  packing  was  also  a  paying 
industry  now  and  during  the  fiscal  year  1847-48  about  20,000 
hogs  were  packed  by  the  dealers  in  the  city.106  Business  in- 
creased and  in  spite  of  a  temporary  lull  in  1849  caused  by  a 
visitation  of  Asiatic  cholera  and  the  California  gold  fever  which, 
between  them,  carried  away  four  hundred  settlers,107  Quincj 
yearly  became  of  more  importance.  It  was  a  city  of  substantial 
residences  and  numerous  public  buildings  and  business  houses 
which  with  its  green  parks  and  shaded  walks  gave  an  eastern 
air  to  the  thriving  city.108  The  export  trade  of  the  city  amounted 
to  $500,000  per  year  by  1850  and  a  line  of  steamboats  which 


01  Seventh  Census  (1850),  703-715. 

°2  Ibtd.,  701. 

<*  Peyton,  Statistical  View  of  Illinois,  13. 

04  Seventh  Census  (1850),  703. 

03  Redmond,  Quincy,  15. 

90  Asbury,  Quincy,  113-116. 

OT  Ibid.,  81. 

08  There  were  twenty-six  variety  stores,  two  hardware  stores,  two  book  stores, 
•five  drug  stores,  ten  ware-houses,  six  mills,  four  lumber  yards,  three  machine 
shops,  two  foundries,  three  printing  offices,  two  hotels,  thirteen  churches,  five 
private  and  two  public  schools.  (Redmond,  Quincy,  15;  Asbury,  Quincy,  82; 
Prairie  Farmer,  7,  383.) 

[138] 


POOLEY SETTLEMENT    OF    ILLINOIS,    1830-50  415 

made  daily  trips  to  St.  Louis  brought  back  such  goods  as  were 
needed  by  the  settlers  of  the  district.109 

The  entire  population  of  the  county  was  26,500  in  1850, 
fifteen  settlements  having  more  than  eight  hundred  inhabitants 
each.110  Almost  150,000  acres  of  land  under  cultivation 
showed  the  activity  of  the  farmer  class  and  the  healthful  in- 
fluence of  a  good  market.111 

In  Hancock  county  the  Mormons  were  the  center  of  attrac- 
tion until  1846,  and  while  swelling  the  population  of  the  county 
until  the  date  of  their  expulsion,  their  influence  was  a  decidedly 
negative  one.  At  the  time  of  their  arrival  Hancock  county 
had  a  population  of  about  7,000  but  now  all  immigration,  save 
that  of  the  Mormons  ceased  and  emigration  began  until  not 
more  than  4,000  American  settlers  were  left  in  the  county  in 
1845.112  Aside  from  Nauvoo,  the  only  settlements  of  note  were 
"Warsaw  and  Mjacedonia,  and  neither  had  a  population  of  five 
hundred  people.113 

Coming  from  Missouri  in  1839  the  Mormon  band  settled  at 
Commerce,  changed  the  name  to  Nauvoo  and  occupied  almost 
all  the  county  together  with  portions  of  the  neighboring  coun- 
ties.    A  charter  was  granted  by  the  state  legislature  and  the    , 
city  of  Nauvoo  grew  rapidly  as  the  Mormon  power  increased    ! 
until  it  was  estimated  that  there  were  in  JNauvoo  and  the  ad-    \ 
joining  country,  about  30,000  of  the  sect.     Next  to  St.  Louis, 

—  •    a  «     v"""" «T~  /t""' 

it  was  the  most  important  city  of  the  Upper  Mississippi.114  The 
charter  (was  repealed  in  1845  and  decline  set  in.  Expulsion 
followed  in  1846  and  Illinois  was  rid  of  a  class  of  people  which 
had  caused  only  a  passing  prosperity. 

Following  the  Mormon  exodus  came  the  Icarians.  These 
Icarians  were  Fr^chmen  who,  in  an  attempt  to  put  to  a  prac- 
tical test  the  communistic  doctrine  of  M.  Cabet  of  Dijon,  had 
come  to  America,  intending  to  settle  in  Texas.  The  plan  proved 
unsuccessful  and  a  part  of  the  colony  under  the  leadership  of 


09  Prairie  Farmer,  7,  383. 

10  Seventh  Census  (1850),  703. 

11  Peyton,  Statistical  Tieic  of  Illinois,  13. 
aNil&'  Register,  69,  109.     See  chap,  xii.,  post. 

13  History  of  Hancock  County,  638. 

14  Smith  and  Smith,   History  of  the   Church  of  Jesus   Christ  of  the    'Latter- 
Day  Saints,  3,  1. 

9  [  129  ] 


416  BULLETIN    OF    THE    UNIVERSITY    OF    WISCONSIN 

Cabet  himself  landed  at  Nauvoo  in  March,  1846.115  Eight 
hundred  acres  of  land  were  rented  and  some  of  the  abandoned 
Mormon  houses  were  bought.  The  industry  of  these  people 
and  their  peaceful,  orderly  habits  caused  them  to  be  esteemed 
by  their  American  neighbors  and  consequently  the  settlement 
prospered  for  several  years.  When  the  members  left  Illinois 
some  years  later  it  was  not  by  request. 

After  the  Mormons  left  the  state,  settlers  again  flocked  in  and 
at  the  close  of  the  decade  there  were  over  14,600116  people  in 
Hancock  county  and  80,000117  acres  of  land  were  under  culti- 
vation. 

Henderson  and  Mercer  counties  were  occupied  chiefly  by 
farmers  who  had  established  themselves  in  the  timber  along 
the  small  streams.  Oquawka,  with  less  than  six  hundred  in- 
habitants, was  the  center  of  population  in  Henderson  county 
and  maintained  some  importance  as  a  shipping  point  for  the 
county  until  the  railroads  were  built.  Keithsburg,  Millers- 
burg  and  New  Boston  were  the  largest  settlements  in  Mercer 
county  and  not  one  of  these  had  three  hundred  inhabitants.118 

During  the  decade  the  counties  had  nearly  doubled  in  popu- 
lation having  in  1850  over  51,000  inhabitants.119  There  were 
under  cultivation  300,000  acres  making  it  the  greatest  farming 
district  of  the  Military  Tract.120 

The  prairie  counties  of  this  division  of  the  state  did  not  in- 
crease in  population  as  rapidly  during  the  decade  1841-1850, 
as  did  the  other  portions  lying  along  the  Illinois  and  Mississippi 
rivers.  The  gain  in  numbers  amounted  to  over  20,000  or  almost 
5,000  less  than  during  the  preceding  decade.121  Financial  dis- 
tress in  the  state,  no  doubt,  had  its  effect  but  probably  the 
greatest  influence  working  was  the  character  of  the  district. 
Primarily  a  prairie  region,  the  amount  of  woodland  was 
limited.  The  rapid  influx  of  immigration  during  the  earlier 
years  had  filled  up  much  of  the  desirable  timber  land  leaving 


15  Reynolds,  Illinois,  372.     See  chap,  xiil.,  post. 
™  Seventh  Census  (1850),  702. 

17  Teyton,  Statistical  View  of  Illinois,  13. 

18  Seventh  Census  (1850),  702-713. 

19  Ibid.,  702. 

2°reyton,  Statistical  View  of  Illinois,  13. 
21  Seventh  Census  (1850),  701-702. 

[130] 


POOLEY SETTLEMENT    OF    ILLINOIS,,    1830-50  417 

only  the  prairie  for  the  later  arrivals.  Facilities  for  trans- 
portation were  limited  and  so  much  trouble  was  experienced 
in  obtaining  lumber  for  fences  and  houses,  that  rather  than  re- 
main and  face  such  difficulties  the  later  comers  moved  on. 

McDonough,  Warren  and  Stark  counties  where  little  unoc- 
cupied timber  was  left  and  where  communication  was  poorly 
developed  gained  little  in  numbers  during  the  decade.122  Toulon 
in  Stark  county,  Monmouth  in  "Warren  county  and  Macomb  in 
McDonough  county  each  has  less  than  eight  hundred  inhabi- 
tants. Knoxville  and  Galesburg  in  Knox  county  were  of  the  same 
size.123 

During  this  period  Henry  county  was  the  scene  of  another 
colonizing  venture.  This  time  it  was  by  foreigners.  Dissatis- 
faction with  the  state  religion  of  Sweden  caused  quite  a  number 
to  contemplate  emigration  and  accordingly  preparations  were 
made  and  a  messenger  was  sent  to  America  to  find  a  suitable 
location.  Henry  county  was  selected  and  in  1846  about  five 
hundred  emigrants  arrived  there.124  By  1850  the  number  had 
doubled125  and  Bishop  Hill,  as  the  settlement  was  called,  was 
the  most  important  one  in  the  county.  At  this  time  the  infant 
settlements  of  Andover,  Geneseo,  Wethersfield  and  La  Grange 
•were  still  struggling  for  life  and  Kewanee  and  Galva,  towns  of 
importance  in  Henry  county  today,  had  as  yet  not  .sprung  into 
existence,  being  products  of  the  railroads. 

Bureau  county  had  increased  at  the  close  of  the  period  about 
5,800  but  the  increase  was  confined  to  the  region  of  the  rivers 
and  old  settlements.  Princeton,  Lamoille,  Dover  and  Clarion: 
were  the  settlements  best  known,  the  largest  being  Princeton 
with  a  population  of  less  than  eight  hundred.126  One  division 
of  Fourier's  Phalanx  made  an  unsuccessful  attempt  at  estab- 
lishing a  settlement.127  The  entire  population  of  these  interior 
counties  in  1850  shows  an  increase  of  eighty  per  cent,  over  1840 


22  The  gain  for  tbe  three  counties  was  less  than  5,000  (Seventh  Census  (1850), 
701,  702). 

123  Hid.,  710-716. 

12*Bigelow,  Bishop  Hill  Colony,  101-108,  in  Transactions  of  111.  State  Hist. 
Society,  1902.  See  chap,  xiii.,  post. 

125  Mikkelson,  Bishop  Hill  Colony,  36,  in  Johns  Hopkins  University  Studies,  10. 

126  Seventh  Census  (J850),  703. 

127  Hinds,  American  Communities,  224.     See  chap,  xiil.,  post. 

[131] 


418  BULLETIN"    OF    THE    UNIVERSITY    OF    WISCONSIN 

which  is  a  smaller  increase  than  either  of  the  other  sections  and 
probably  is  due  to  the  greater  amount  of  prairie  land  here. 

From  1831  to  1840  the  entire  Military  Tract  gained  83,500  in 
population ;  during  the  decade  1841-1850  the  gain  was  but  80,- 
600,  in  all  a  gain  of  over  165,000  for  the  twenty  years.128  The 
decline  noticed  in  the  last  decade  probably  can  be  attributed  to 
increased  competition  from  other  parts  of  the  state.  The  Rock 
river  valley,  the  Fox  river  valley  and  the  upper  Illinois  river  val- 
ley were  during  the  years  1841-1850  receiving  great  numbers  of 
settlers  and,  having  excellent  timber  land  in  larger  quantities 
than  remained  unoccupied  in  the  Military  Tract,  tended  to  at- 
tract the  new  comers. 

The  rule  concerning  the  late  settlement  of  the  prairies  and  the 
early  settlement  of  the  woodlands  holds  in  this  portion  of  the  state 
as  well  as  the  others.  The  Illinois  and  Mississippi  river  coun- 
ties, having  numerous  small  streams  and  tracts  of  woodland, 
settled  rapidly  but  where  the  prairies  were  extensive  the  settle- 
ment was  slow.  The  local  historians  repeatedly  mention  this 
fact  and  state  that  not  until  1850,  or  even  later,  did  the  pio- 
neers venture  out  into  the  open  to  any  extent.  The  railroads 
were  a  necessity  and  until  they  solved  the  problems  of  the  prai- 
ries, the  pioneers  were  almost  helpless  in  the  face  of  the  dif- 
ficulties presented. 

The  largest  settlements  of  the  Military  Tract,  Peoria  and 
iQuincy,  can  be  said  to  have  advanced  to  the  dignity  of  cities 
jby  1850.  Peoria  iwas  the  most  important  port  on  the  Illinois 
river  as  was  Quincy  on  the  Mississippi  and  with  the  develop- 
ment of  the  agricultural  districts  upon  which  they  drew,  as  well 
as  the  development  of  steam  traffic  on  the  rivers  whereby  the 
southern  markets  were  reached,  these  cities  advanced  rapidly 
in  wealth,  population  and  importance. 

In  the  case  of  Quincy  the  effect  of  a  favorable  location  is  par- 
ticularly noticeable.  Its  easy  communication  with  markets  in 
the  South,  its  good  landing  place  for  steamers,  its  healthful  site 
upon  a  bluff  above  the  river  and  its  rich  tributary  agricultural 
district  aided  in  the  rapid  development  already  noted.  More- 
over the  development  of  the  flouring  industry  as  well  as  that  of 


128  Seventh  Census  (1850),  701-702. 

[132] 


POOLEY SETTLEMENT    OF    ILLINOIS,    1830-50 

pork  packing  also  aided  in  the  city's  prosperity  and  in  order  to 
save  transportation  expenses  on  manufactured  goods,  factories 
of  various  descriptions  sprang  up  to  add  to  the  growth  of  the 
community.  In  fact  the  growth  of  Quincy  is  an  illustration 
of  the  effect  of  favorable  environment  and  of  the  interaction  of 
agricultural  and  manufacturing  districts. 

Next  in  order  of  size  were  those  cities  which,  while  not  situ- 
ated directly  upon  the  large  rivers,  were  in  close  contact  with 
them,  being  located  from  five  to  fifteen  miles  away,  thus  be- 
ing free  from  the  fevers  which  often  swept  the  river  bottoms, 
and  still  not  far  enough  away  to  offer  any  serious  difficulties. 
in  transportation.  Pittsfield,  Mt.  Sterling,  Rushville,  Lewis- 
ton,  and  Canton  City  compose  this  class.  In  size  they  ranged 
from  1,500  to  2,500  inhabitants. 

The  third  class  of  towns  comprised  those  of  the  interior 
counties — generally  the  county  seats — which,  removed  from 
water  communication  with  the  outside  world  were  handicapped 
to  such  an1  extent  as  to  hinder  growth.  When  the  railroads, 
penetrated  these  counties  their  prosperity  was  to  increase,  but 
not  before.  Macomb,  Monmouth,  Galesburg,  Toulon,  Prince- 
ton and  other  towns  ranging  from  five  hundred  to  one  thousand 
inhabitants  are  examples  of  this  class. 

Settlements  by  colonizing  companies  began  to  be  of  import- 
ance during  the  decade  1831-1840  when  the  whole  country  be- 
came entangled  in  land  speculation.  The  Military  Tract  and 
especially  Henry  county,  came  in  for  its  share  of  such  ven- 
tures. No  great  success  resulted,  generally  due  to  the  lack  of 
active  settlers  and  the  overabundance  of  those  wishing  to  settle 
the  county  by  theory  rather  than  by  practical  attempts. 

In  the  southern  portions  of  the  Military  Tract  the  settlers  to 
a  great  extent  were  men  from  the  southern  states,  because  these 
counties  were  settled  earliest  when  this  class  of  pioneers  was  in 
the  majority.  As  has  been  mentioned  before,  the  counties  close 
to  the  Sangamon  country  where  many  Kentuckians  and  Tenn- 
esseeans  resided,  naturally  received  a  large  part  of  their  set- 
tlers from  across  the  Illinois  river.  Along  the  Illinois  river 
the  Kentuckians  were  numerous  save  in  the  cities,  but  as  the 
line  of  settlement  moved  farther  and  farther  up  the  river  the 

[133] 


420  BULLETIN    OF    THE    UNIVERSITY    OF    WISCONSIN 

percentage  of  Kentuckians  in  the  population  decreased  and  that 
of  the  northern  pioneers  increased.129  In  the  other  portions 
of  the  Military  Tract  like  conditions  prevailed  and  as  the  north 
is  approached  the  percentage  of  southerners  decreases.130 

Statistics  seem  to  show  that  in  the  Military  Tract  before 
1850,  the  southern  stream  had  begun  to  lose  force  and  when 
it  met  the  stream  of  northern  settlers  in  a  contention  for  the 
timber  lands  it  gave  way  to  the  more  energetic  northern  people 
who  took  up  the  land.  Having  the  faculty  for  adapting  him- 
self to  his  environments  whatever  they  might  be,  the  northern 
pioneer  seemed  destined  to  succeed  in  the  conquest  of  the 
prairies.  Far  sighted,  too,  and  believing  in  the  feasibility  of 
railroads,  having  seen  them  succeed  in  the  East,  he  was  more 
ready  than  his  southern  neighbor  to  venture  away  from  the  tim- 
ber land  and  into  the  prairie. 


129  An  examination  of  the  biographies  of  four  hundred  pioneers  in  Schuyier 
and  Brown  counties  before  1850  shows  that  one  hundred  and  forty  came  from 
the  states  of  the  Northwest  Territory ;  one  hundred  and  six  from  Kentucky 
and  Tennessee,  ninety  of  these  being  from.  Kentucky ;  sixty-six  from  the  Middle 
Atlantic  states;  forty  from  the  southern  states,  sixteen  from  New  England  and 
thirty  from  foreign  lands.  (History  of  Schuyier  and  Brown  counties,  377-394.) 

The  biographies  of  1,324  pioneers  of  Teoria  at  the  same  date  show  that  four 
hundred  and  thirteen  had  come  from  the  Middle  Atlantic  states;  one  hundred 
and  sixty-five  from  New  England;  one  hundred  and  six  from  the  South) :  one 
hundred  and  fifty  from  the  northwestern  states;  fify-three  from  Kentucky  and 
Tennessee  and  four  hundred  and  thirty-five  from  foreign  lands.  (Ballance,  Peoria, 
201.)  Also  see  further  illustration  in  Chapter  V  on  the  Illinois  and  Fox  river 
valleys. 

180  One  hundred  and  forty-three  pioneers  of  Quincy  before  1850  came  from  the 
following  regions.  Eighteen  per  cent,  were  New  Englanders,  twenty-eight  per 
cent,  were  from  the  Middle  Atlantic  states,  twelve  per  cent,  from  the  South 
Atlantic  states,  fifteen  per  cent,  from  the  Northwest,  twelve  per  cent,  from 
Kentucky  and  Tennessee  and  eleven  per  cent,  from  foreign  lands.  (Asbury. 
Quincy,  103-106.)  In  New  Boston  and  Keithsburg  in  Mercer  county  forty-six 
per  cent,  of  the  pioneers  whose  nativities  are  recorded  by  the  local  historian 
came  from  the  Northwest ;  twenty-eight  per  cent,  from  the  Middle  Atlantic 
states ;  eight  per  cent,  from  the  South ;  five  per  cent,  from  New  England ;  three 
per  cent,  from  Kentucky  and  Tennessee  and  ten  per  cent,  were  foreigners. 
(History  of  Mercer  and  Henderson  Counties,  92.)  Monmouth,  an  inland  town, 
shows  practically  the  same  results,  for  seventy  per  cent,  of  the  biographies  ex- 
amined show  the  subjects  to  have  come  from  northern  states,  twenty-one  per 
cent,  from  southern  states  and  nine  per  cent,  from  foreign  lands.  (Past  and 
Present  of  Warren  County,  203.) 


[134] 


POOLEY SETTLEMENT    OF    ILLINOIS,    1830-50  421 


CHAPTER  VII 


THE  ROCK  RIVER  VALLEY 

As  an  agricultural  district  the  country  around  the  Rock  river- 
can  scarcely  be  surpassed.  The  surface  is  rolling  prairie  land 
dotted  with  groves  and  springs  while  along  the  streams  are 
denser  woodlands1.  The  open  country  is  exceedingly  fertile 
and  especially  well  adapted  to  the  cultivation  of  grain.  The 
climate  is  delightful  and  while  it  is  one  which,  like  other  por- 
tions of  our  northern  country,  is  subject  to  occasional  marked 
changes  in  temperature,  these  changes  have  never  been  severe 
enough  to  cause  more  than  slight  inconveniences  for  the  time. 

It  is  scarcely  to  be  wondered  at  that  when  once  the  pioneer 
settlers  became  acquainted  with  this  region  they  nocked  to  it 
with  almost  incredible  rapidity.  In  1834  not  a  single  county 
had  been  formed,  but  before  1840  eight  counties  had  been  or- 
ganized and  had  a  combined  population  of  nearly  21,500.  Dur- 
ing the  decade  following,  the  increase  was  even  more  striking, 
for  by  1850  the  population  had  trebled  itself,  numbering  at  that 
date  GB^OO.1  This  rapid  growth  seems  wonderful  in  view  of 
the  fact  that  it  took  place  in  a  region  practically  isolated  so  far 
as  facilities  for  communication  were  concerned,  and  also  at  a 
time  when  financial  troubles  oppressed  the  state  as  well  as  the 
rest  of  the  country. 

Slight  settlement  had  taken  place  in  the  valley  previous  to 
1830.  In  1804  by  the  treaty  of  St.  Louis  the  federal  govern- 
ment acquired  Rock  Island  in  the  Mississippi  river  from  the 
Sac  and  Fox  Indians.2  Shortly  after  Ft.  Armstrong  was  built 


1  Seventh  Census  (1850),  701-702. 

2  Flagler,  History  of  the  Rock  Island  Arsenal,  2. 


[135] 


422 


BULLETIN    OF    THE    UNIVERSITY    OF    WISCONSIN 


7 


g)      Chief  towns. 
•       Villages. 

ROCK  RIVEE  VAIXEY  (1850) 

West  of  the  prairie  line  20  per  cent,  of  the  country  is  woodland.     East  of  the  line* 
all  timber  is  along  the  rivers.     The  years  indicate  date  of  county  organization. 


[136] 


POOLEY SETTLEMENT    OF    ILLINOIS,    1830-50  42$ 

and  when  the  garrison  came  in  1816,  Col.  Davenport  and  his- 
family  accompanied  them,  being  for  a  number  of  years  the  only 
whites  in  the  vicinity,  save  the  garrison.  In  1826  the  begin- 
nings of  the  town  of  Farnhamsburg,  the  predecessor  of  Rock 
Island,  was  made,  Col.  Davenport  and  Russell  Famham,  part- 
ners in  the  Indian  trade,  erecting  a  house  on  the  mainland.3 
For  years  the  house  was  to  act  as  post-office,  hotel  and  court 
house.  Two  years  later  a  few  families  came  to  live  on  the 
island  but  being  impressed  with  the  fertility  of  the  mainland 
and  owing  to  its  protected  condition  they  ventured  upon  it.4 
The  little  settlement  grew  so  rapidly  that  when  the  Black  Hawk 
War  broke  out  four  years  later,  it  furnished  fifty-eight  men  for 
the  service.5 

Some  sixty  miles  up  the  river  was  another  small  settlement^ 
On  the  present  site  of  Dixon  where  the  trail  connecting  Peoria 
and  the  lead  region  crossed  the  Rock  river,  a  half-breed  named 
Ogee,  attracted  by  the  yearly  tide  of  immigration  flowing  to 
and  from  the  lead  mines,  had  established  a  ferry  in  1826.8  By 
1829  some,  tired  of  the  ceaseless  traveling  to  and  from  the 
mines,  and  impressed  with  the  fertile  land  around  them,  had 
settled  at  the  ferry.  A  post-office  for  the  accommodation  of  the 
travelers  had  been  established  here  and  the  settlers  from  as  far 
up  the  river  as  Rockford  came  here  for  their  mail.7  At  the 
last  named  place  stood  a  solitary  pioneer  cabin.8  Along  the- 
Galena  trace  in  the  neighborhood  of  Dixon  were  scattered  other 
small  settlements. 

These  were  the  settlements  in  the  Rock  river  valley  at  the 
outbreak  of  the  Black  Hawk  War.  They  were  few  in  number 
and  small  in  size  but  they  portrayed  pioneer  tendencies  by  their 
location.  The  pioneer  wished  elbow  room  and  disliked  the  ham- 
pering effects  of  civilization  but  still  he  was  reluctant  to  give 
up  all  connection  with  his  fellow  men.  As  a  consequence  his* 


3  History  of  Rock  Island  County,  118-142. 

4  Stevens,  Black  Hawk  War,  79. 

5  History  of  Rock  Island  County,  122. 

6  History  of  Dixon  and  Lee  County,  14. 
T  History  of  Lee  County,  38T" 

*  History  of  Dixon  and  Lee  County,  4. 

[137] 


424  BULLETIN    OF    THE    UNIVERSITY    OF    WISCONSIN 

settlements  were  established  on  the  waterways  in  the  new  coun- 
try, or,  better  still,  where  the  much  traveled  wagon  road  crossed 
the  waterway,  as  at  Dixon.  The  pioneer  liked  company  but 
not  too  much  of  it  and  by  establishing  himself  in  such  places 
as  have  been  named  he  was  able  to  fulfill  his  desires.  Where- 
ever  the  wagon  roads  offered  good  connections  with  the  neighbor- 
ing settlements,  there  were  to  be  found  the  settlers '  cabins.  This 
is  especially  noticeable  along  the  Peoria-Galena  trace  through  the 
valley. 

In  view  of  the  facts  cited,  it  seems  proper  to  date  the  real  set- 
tlement of  this  portion  of  Illinois  from  the  Black  Hawk  War. 
Moreover,  the  last  strip  of  Indian  territory  in  the  valley  was 
ceded  to  the  government  by  the  Winnebago  Indians  in  Septem- 
ber, 1832.9 

The  year  1831  had  not  been  one  of  agricultural  success 
and  this,  followed  by  the  Indian  troubles  of  1832,  reduced 
the  settlers  of  the  northern  country  to  dire  straits.  So 
far  everything  seems  to  have  operated  against  the  pioneers  and 
the  country  was  not  yet  known  to  any-  extent. 

The  maneuvers  of  the  troops  in  the  Rock  river  valley  while  in 
pursuit  of  Black  Hawk  gave  the  men  some  opportunity  to  be- 
come acquainted  with  its  advantages.  It  is  evident  that  some  of 
the  soldiers  from  the  eastern  states  were  wide  awake  to  the  pos- 
sibilities of  this  region,  for  shortly  after  their  return  home  the 
vanguard  of  the  New  England  and  Middle  states  pioneers  be- 
gan to  arrive  in  Illinois.  One  of  the  great  causes  for  this  im- 
migration,10 we  are  informed  was  the  stories  told  by  the  soldiers 
concerning  the  beauty  of  the  country  and  the  fertility  of  the 
soil. 

During  the  next  three  years  (to  1835)  the  pioneers,  slowly 
gaining  confidence  owing  to  the  settlement  of  the  Indian  troubles, 
again  came  to  the  Rock  river  valley,  and,  during  the  year 
immediately  preceding  the  revulsion  of  1837,  settlers  followed 
with  increasing  frequency.  The  Rock  Island  settlement  under 
the  shelter  of  Ft.  Armstrong  grew  rapidly,  developing  into  the 


8  Annual  Report  of  the  American  Bureau  of  Ethnology  1896-1897,  2,  737. 
">Evanston  Historical  Society  Publications,  (1902),  3. 

[138] 


POOLEY SETTLEMENT    OF    ILLINOIS,    1830-50  425 

town  of  Stephenson,  which  was  the  county  seat  of  the  newly 
organized  Rock  Island  county.11  In  the  immediate  neighbor- 
hood, Fulton,  at  the  narrows  of  the  Mississippi  was  founded.12 
Clinging  to  the  wooded  banks  of  the  Rock  river,  were  Prophets- 
town,  Sterling,  Dixon,  Oregon  and  Rockford,  each  at  the  time  a 
very  small  settlement  and  having  no  importance  save  that  of 
being  a  pioneer  village. 

Away  from  the  river,  however,  in  the  groves  bordering  the 
smaller  tributaries  were  settlements  equal  in  importance,  at 
that  time,  to  the  better  known  ones;  but,  later  outstripped  in 
growth  because  of  increasing  advantages  of  their  neighbors, 
they  are  today  deemed  insignificant.  Still  in  this  study  of 
settlement  such  places  as  Squaw  Grove,  Paw  Paw  Grove  and 
Buffalo  Grove  have  significance  for  the  names  call  attention  to 
the  fact  that  in  the  early  days  of  the  conquest  of  the  prairies 
the  pioneers  first  sought  the  timber  as  a  base  of  operations  be- 
fore venturing  out  into  the  open. 

Sterling,  one  of  the  largest  towns  in  the  lower  Rock  river  val- 
ley was  organized  in  this  decade  and  derived  its  name  from  a 
peculiar  incident.  Chatham  and  Harrisburg,  rival  pioneer 
towns  situated  opposite  each  other  on  the  Rock  river,  struggled 
through  three  years  for  leadership  in  the  newly  organized  county 
of  Whiteside,  each  desiring  the  honor  of  being  the  county  town. 
Each  attempt  upon  the  part  of  either  contestant  to  gain  prece- 
dence failed  until  finally  the  right  to  the  county  seat  was  de- 
cided by  tossing  a  coin.  The  towns  were  united  and  the  name 
Sterling  was  given  to  the  new  town.13 

The  northern  part  of  the  district  did  not,  during  the  early 
years,  make  as  much  headway  in  settlement  as  did  that  part 
already  mentioned.  The  most  important  center  of  population 
in  Boone  county  had  but  twenty-three  voters14  in  1836.  Its 
importance  was  due  to  the  efforts  of  a  stock  company  which 
endeavored  to  take  advantage  of  the  waterpower  of  the  Kish- 


11  Organized  in  1835. 

12  History  of  Whiteside  County,  157. 

13  Whiteside  county  was  organized  in  1836. 

14  Past  and  Present  of  Boone  County,  231. 


[139] 


426  BULLETIN    OF    THE    UNIVERSITY    OF    WISCONSIN 

waukee  river  where  it  was  crossed  by  the  state  road  from  Ga- 
lena to  Chicago.15 

Rockford,  which  was  also,  from  its  situation  on  the  Rock  river 
where  the  state  road  crossed  it,  in  an  advantageous  position,  be- 
gan its  growth  in  1835  and  1836.  At  the  end  of  the  latter  year 
frame  houses  had  begun  to  supplant  the  rougher  log  cabins1  of 
the  previous  years.  Its  greatest  rival  was  Winnebago  which 
for  a  time  bid  fair  to  become  the  most  important  towns  of  the 
county  but  upon  its  defeat  for  the  honor  of  being  the  county 
seat  a  decline  set  in  from  which  it  never  recovered. 

In  1834,  Congress  made  the  Polish  grant  in  Winnebago  coun- 
ty.16 After  the  Polish  insurrection  of  1830  and  1831  numbers- 
had  been  forced  into  exile,  many  coming  to  America.  Those 
who  came  to  this  country  sent  a  committee  to  Congress  petition- 
ing it  for  a  grant  of  land.  Congress  replied  by  granting  them 
thirty-six  sections  to  be  selected  from  the  lands  of  Illinois  and 
Michigan,  laying  but  one  restriction  upon  the  choice,  that  those 
making  the  choice  must  select  three  townships  adjoining  each 
other.  When  the  selection  was  finally  made  by  the  Polish  dele- 
gate, Count  Chlopiski,  a  year  later,  he  selected  the  townships 
on  which  Rockford  and  Rockton  stand,  thereby  both  violating 
the  terms  of  the  grant  and  causing  consternation  among  the 
settlers  who  hoped  in  due  time  to  obtain  lawful  possession  of 
the  land  upon  which  they  had  settled.  Nothing,  however,, 
came  of  the  Polish  grant,  for  these  people  settled  in  another 
part  of  the  country,  and  caused  the  Rock  river  settlers  no  more 
trouble  than  that  of  keeping  them  from  establishing  clear  titles 
to  their  lands,  for  Congress,  anticipating  that  the  Poles  would 
eventually  take  up  their  residence  upon  the  selected  tracts,  did 
not  put  this  land  on  the  market  until  1843.17 

During  the  years  1835  and  1836  many  settlers  came  to  Stephen- 
son  county,  especially  in  the  latter  year.  While  many  of 
these  were  miners  from  the  lead  region,  some  were  from  the  east- 
ern states  and  a  considerable  number  from  the  southern  part 


15  IUd.,  280. 

u  Senate  Debates,  23  Congress,  1  Bess.,  1724. 

17  Church,   History   of  Rockford,   210.     The   Poles    settled   in   Texas.      (North- 
western Gazette  and  Galena  Advertiser,  Sept.  24,  1836. 

[140] 


POOLEY SETTLEMENT    OF    ILLINOIS,    1830~50  427 

of  Illinois.  This  last  class  had,  like  many  others,  been  impressed 
with  the  fertility  of  the  country  when  they  had  passed  through 
it  in  pursuit  of  Black  Hawk  and  were  now  coming  to  take  ad- 
vantage of  the  opportunities  it  offered.18  The  Winnebago  In- 
dians, who,  up  to  this  time  had  by  their  presence  in  this  part  of 
the  state  retarded  settlement  to  a  great  degree,  now  withdrew 
across  the  Mississippi  and  by  their  withdrawal  made  the  set- 
tlers in  the  district  breathe  easier,  for  the  remembrance  of  the 
'Sac  and  Fox  disturbances  was  still  fresh  in  the  minds  of  the 
pioneers.  The  most  important  settlement  was  at  Freeport, 
where  an  Indian  trading  post  was  established  upon  the  Peca- 
tonica  river  in  1835.  Over  fifty  families  congregated  at  this 
point  during  the  following  year.19 

Such  was  the  Rock  river  valley  in  1837  when,  owing  to  the 
failure  of  so  many  speculative  schemes,  the  financial  depression 
came  and  with  it  a  new  era  in  the  settlement  of  the  state.  In 
the  period  just  discussed  only  beginnings  were  made;  some  vil- 
lages of  respectable  size  had  sprung  up  and  hundreds  of  fam- 
ilies were  scattered  here  and  there  at  the  most  attractive  points. 

This  early  period  of  settlement  in  the  valley  may  be  taken 
as  typical  of  the  progress  of  settlement  into  a  new  country.  The 
river  served  as  the  highway  of  communication  with  the  outer 
world;  the  two  great  roads  through  the  valley,  the  one  crossing 
the  river  at  Dixon,  the  other  at  Rockford,  also  played  their 
part.  The  map  will  show  the  location  of  the  principal  towns 
where  the  intersection  of  these  highways  took  place,  Rockford, 
Freeport  and  Dixon,  with  Rock  Island  at  the  mouth  of  the  val- 
ley. Gradually  the  filling-in  process  took  place  and  numer- 
ous smaller  towns  dotted  the  banks  of  the  river.  Along  the 
two  great  wagon  roads,  settlements  were  also  found  but  these 
were  not  to  develop  even  into  villages  until  the  railroads  came. 
Back  from  the  main  stream  along  the  tributaries  were  still 
other  settlements.  Could  we  be  allowed  to  view  the  valley  as 
a  whole  the  scene  would  be  one  of  a  line  of  cabins  following  the 


18  Johnston,  Sketches  of  Stephcnson  County,  55. 

19  History  of  StepJienson  County,  238. 


[141] 


428  BULLETIN    OF    THE    UNIVEKSITY    OF    WISCONSIN 

timber  lands,  along  the  streams,  and  leaving  the  great  prairies 
as  yet  untouched. 

The  towns,  so  far,  had  shown  no  signs  of  becoming  cities  and 
they  were  not  to  make  rapid  strides  for  another  decade.  The 
reason  seems  simple.  Lines  of  transportation  were  not  devel- 
oped save  a  poor  one  in  the  Rock  river.  Lack  of  transporta- 
tion facilities  caused  a  lack  of  markets  and  since  good  markets 
help  in  the  development  of  an  agricultural  district  and  are  de- 
pendent upon  this  development  for  support,  it  seems  that  the 
problem  of  transportation  was  the  key  to  the  situation  and  in 
the  interacting  influences  of  agriculture  and  steam  was  to  be 
found  the  solution  of  the  prairie  problem.  When  transpor- 
tation was  assured,  development  was  rapid  but  it  was  not  to 
take  place  for  several  years  to  come  because  of  the  period  of 
financial  embarrassment  experienced  by  the  state  from  1837  to 
1843. 

This  second  stage  of  growth  (1837-1843)  was  not  one  of 
rapid  development.  It  is  true  that  settlers  still  came,  but  not 
in  large  numbers;  timber  claims  were  still  in  dejnand  but  in 
a  less  marked  degree  than  formerly.  Rock  Island  and  Dixon 
increased  a  little  as  did  the  smaller  settlements  of  the  lower  Rock 
river  valley.  A  local  historian  notes  the  arrival  of  a  colony  of 
wealthy  New  Yorkers  near  Discm-in  183820  but  it  seems  scarce- 
ly probable  that  men  of  much  property  would  care  to  exchange 
.their  homes  for  the  privations  of  the  frontier. 

In  the  closing  years  of  the  decade,  1831  to  1840,  Ogle  county 
grew  little,  but  in  the  early  forties  settlers  came  more  frequently. 
Money  was  scarce;  times  were  hard;  few  markets  for  farm  pro- 
duce presented  themselves;  the  merchants  refused  to  pay  cash 
for  products,  all  of  which  served  to  make  the  lot  of  the  pio- 
neers a  harder  one.  Those  already  in  the  country,  believing  in 
the  ultimate  adjustment  of  conditions  on  a  more  favorable 
basis,  were  willing  to  endure  the  hardships  for  the  sake  of  fu- 
ture possibilities  and  remained.  A  few  others  came.  Grand 
Detour,  Oregon,  Mt.  Morris,  Buffalo  Grove,  Rochelle  and  By- 
ron were  the  most  important  centers  of  settlement. 


20  Htetory  of  Dixon  and  Lee  County,  1. 

[142] 


POOLEY SETTLEMENT    OF    ILLINOIS,    1830-50  429 

Grand  Detour,  so-called  from  its  situation  in  the  great  bend1 
of  the  Kock  River,  grew  from  a  small  village  of  a  store  and  two 
dwellings  in  183721  to  one  of  considerable  size  in  1842.22  Its 
growth  is  typical  of  the  development  of  the  early  towns1.  Some 
advantages  of  transportation  facilities  were  enjoyed  and  the 
surrounding  agricultural  country  looked  here  for  a  market. 
Manufactures  developed  to  an  extent  owing  to  high  prices  of 
transportation  and  it  seemed  the  object  of  the  community  to  be 
as  nearly  as  possible  self-sufficing. 

DeKalb  county  in  1840  had  the  least  number  of  inhabitants 
of  any  of  the  Rock  river  valley  counties.  This  may  be  at- 
tributed to  its  location  which  was  midway  between  the  line  of 
settlement  along  the  Fox  river  and  that  along  the  Rock.  No 
river  of  size  penetrated  the  county  and  consequently  there  was 
no  easy  opening  allowed  for  the  settlers.  There  were,  how- 
ever, some  settlements  in  the  vicinity  of  the  groves.  Sycamore, 
which  today  is  one  of  the  important  towns,  was  in  1840  "a 
dreary  little  village"  of  a  dozen  houses.23 

Rockford  was  the__chief  town  of  Winnebago  cj3mityL_and  be- 

f  r>rP_JJU9.  .  li  a  A    hpr»0™  o    rrnp^  jvf_  JP  size.      In    1838 


Rockford  and  West  Rockford  were  two  settlements  apart  from 
each  other.  West  Rockford  had  eighteen  Jbuildings ;  while__the 
settlemenT  across  the  rfvef"~was  slightly  larger.24  Similarity 
of  interestSlj^ausacL  them  to  eombine~in~183^,"  when,  together, 
they^weTe^mcjp^p_pj^teiL_a^Jth^^ty  of  Rockford.  At  that  time 
the  population  amounted  to  two  hundred  and  thirty-five.25 
From  thia-timeTin  spite  of  the-general  depression  throughout 
the  state,  Rockford  jenjoyed  a  rapid  growth.  Chosen  as  the 
seat  of  government  for  Winnebago  county  in  1839jjits  .import- 
ance increased  and  by  1841  it  had  come  to  be  the  most  popu- 


21  Sketches  o''  Ogle  County,  69. 

22  Rock  River  Gazette,  Oct.  4,  1842,  says  the  town  had  a  good  hotel ;  two  stores, 
one  of  which  did  $30,000  worth  of  business  in  a  single  year  ;  a  broom  factory ; 
a  cigar  factory ;  a  flour  mill  with  a  capacity  of  6,000  to  8,000  barrels  a  year ; 
a  printing  press ;  and  a  saw  mill.     There  was  also  a  plow  factory  with  a  daily 
capacity  of  fifty  plows. 

23  History  of  DeKalb  County,  386. 

24  Church,  History  of  RocJcford,  134. 

25  luid.,  i48. 


143] 


430  BULLETIN    OF    THE    UNIVERSITY    OF    WISCONSIN 

lous  town  along  the  Rock  river,  having  eight  hundred  inhabi- 
tants.26 

-^Hnough  Winnebago  was  the  most  populous  county  in  this 
portion  of  the  state  in  1840,  settlement  was  carried  on  under 
adverse  conditions  especially  during  the  later  thirties.  Prices 
were  exceedingly  high  and  money  was  scarce  and  those  pioneers 
-who  as  yet  were  unable  to  raise  products  varied  enough  to  sat- 
isfy all  their  wants  met  with  many  hardships.27 

"With  money  scarce  as  it  was  during  this  time  it  may  well  be 
imagined  what  smaHchance  the  pioneer  had  to  purchase  the 
necessities  of  life  in  such  a  country.  One  man  ventured  to  say 
-that  there  were  not  twenty  farmers1  in  the  entire  county  in  1841 
and  1842  who  had  a  suit  of  clothes  suitable  to  wear  to  church 
or  to  court,  which  they  had  purchased  with  the  fruits  of  their 
labor  on  their  farms.  The  truth  of  the  situation  was  that  those 
who  had  an  abundance  of  products  were  unable  to  sell  because 
none  were  in-  a  position  to  buy,  owing  to  lack  of  funds.  It  was 
indeed  a  time  of  discouragement  and  some  men  past  the  prime 
of  life,  tired  of  battling  with  the  hardships  of  the  new  country, 
returned  to  their  old  homes  in  the  East.28  Such  people,  it  is 
certain,  would  by  their  stories  of  frontier  trials  and  privations 
'actively  oppose  the  movement  of  any  of  their  friends  to  the  West. 
Here  we  find  one  of  the  causes  which  operated  against  the  settle- 
ment of  the  state  even  as  late  as  1845. 

To  a  certain  degree,  Stephenson  county  seems  also  to  have 
been  an  exception  to  the  rule  of  slow  settlement  during  the 
years  immediately  following  1837.  In  that  year  there  were 
four  or  five  hundred29  settlers  in  the  timber  and  in  1840  there 
were  2,800.30  New  England  contributed  most  of  the  pioneers 
•during  this  period  although  numbers  of  "Pennsylvania  Dutch," 
Norwegians  and  English  came  also.  The  chief  colony  of  Nor- 


28  Chicago  Weekly  American,  Jan.  22,  1841.  The  town  had  two  newspapers 
•at  this  date.  (Church,  History  of  Rockford,  215,  300.) 

27  Church,  History  of  Rockford,  131,  quotes  the  following  prices : — Flour,  six- 
teen to  thirty-two  dollars  a  barrel ;  pork,  thirty  dollars  a  barrel ;  wheat,  from 
ithree  to  four  dollars  a  bushel ;  and  sugar,  twenty-five  cents  a  pound. 

KIWd.,  131. 

19  Hlinois  in  1837,  100 :    History  of  Stephcnson  County,  257. 

80  Keven th  Census  (1850),  702. 

[144] 


POOLEY SETTLEMENT    OF    ILLINOIS,    1830-50  431 

wegians  came  from  Nummedal  and  Thelemark  in  1839  and  set- 
tled at  Rock  Run.  There  were  one  hundred  and  fifty  in  the 
colony.31  In  1842  a  colony  of  English  peasants  from  Devon- 
shire and  Sussex  settled  in  Ridott  township.32 

Freeport  developed  as  rapidly  as  did  the  rest  of  the  county. 
A  few  houses  were  erected  in  1837,  but  owing  to  the  high  price 
of  lumber  they  were  small  ones.33  All  supplies  were  carted 
overland  from  Galena,  a  distance  of  more  than  fifty  miles,  and 
as  a  consequence  prices  were  high  and  Freeport  felt  keenly  the 
lack  of  transportation  facilities.  However,  the  town  soon  began 
to  bear  evidence  of  possibilities  in  the  future  and  when  in  1840 
its  population  numbered  almost  five  hundred  it  began  to  ape 
the  manners  of  a  city.34  It  appears  to  have  been1  a  frontier 
town  of  none  too  good  a  type.  "Saloons  were  maintained  and 
gambling  indulged  in  without  limit.  John  Barleycorn  reigned 
in  those  days  more  generally  in  proportion  to  the  number  of 
inhabitants  than  he  does  now,  while  the  Tiger  of  Pharaoh  was 
a  beast  that  roamed  about  freely."35 

Before  passing  from  the  discussion  of  this  period  it  is  neces- 
sary to  mention  an  impediment  to  immigration  to  this  country, 
which  exercised  more  weight  in  the  locality  than  financial 
troubles  or  the  want  of  transportation  facilities.  The  settlers, 
as  we  have  noticed,  were^  of  all  nations  and  from  all  portions  of 
the  United  States,  so  it  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  that  there  was 
infestingthe  Rock  river  country,  a  liberal  share  of  counter- 
feiters, thieves  and  murderers.  .To 'a  greater  or  less  extent  this 
class  is  always  found  on  the  outskirts  of  civilization  and  the 
Rock  river  valley  was  particularly  unfortunate  in  being  the 
rendezvous  of  such  a  band.  These  "Prairie  Pirates "  as  they 
were  called  numbered  about  three  hundred  men  who  made  it  a 
business  to  buy  moveable  property  and  pay  for  it  in  counter- 
feit money,  to  steal  horses  and  rob  the  cabins  of  the  pioneers.36 
The  law  seemed  powerless  against  these  desperadoes,  for  often 


81  kelson,  Scandinavians  in  the  United  States,  1,  132. 

32  History  of  Stephenson  County,  268. 

33  Johnston,  Sketches  of  Stephenson  County,  91,  92. 

34  Ibid.,  93. 

35  History  of  Stephenson  County,  264. 
**  The  New  Yorker,  May  30,  1840. 

10  [  145  ] 


432  BULLETIN    OF    THE    UNIVERSITY    OF    WISCONSIN 

members  of  the  band  were  filling  local  offices  and  shielded  their 
companions.  Lynch  law  alone  restored~~order  'to  the  troubled 
district  when  two  of  the  "Pirates"  were  hanged.37  Over  one  hun- 
dred men  sat  upon  the  jury  which  convicted  them  and  later  pro- 
ceedings were  brought  against  these  jurymen.  They  were  in- 
dicted for  murder,  tried  but  acquitted.  The  decisive  action  of 
the  pioneers  effectually  stopped  the  raids  and  settlers  were  more 
secure  thereafter  in  their  lives  and  the  possession  of  their  prop- 
erty. 

Other  conditions  unfavorable  to  the  rapid  settling  of  the 
country  also  prevailed  in  this  period.  Markets  were  scarce. 
The  Rock  river  man  was  compelled  to  cart  his  produce  to  Ga- 
lena or  Savanna,  on  the  Mississippi  river,  or  to  Chicago  if  he 
had  a  great  quantity  to  sell.  The  expense  of  transportation 
taken  in  connection  with  the  value  of  his  time  left  little  or  no 
reward  for  the  farmer  who  journeyed  to  market.  To  Galena 
was  a  trip  of  a  week  or  more ;  to  Chicago,  anywhere  from  four- 
teen to  twenty  days,  and  after  arriving,  his  wheat  was  worth 
but  forty  or  fifty  cents  a  bushel.38 

Moreover,  the  pioneer  had  trouble  over  his  claims.  Specu- 
lators, always  on  the  lookout  for  improved  farms,  not  held  by 
good  titles,  were  prone  to  snap  up  all  such  pieces  until  the 
Claims  Associations  were  formed  and  by  might  secured  to  every 
settler  his  claim  against  "land-sharks"  or  "claim-jumpers." 
After  the  land  sales  of  1842  and  1843  these  associations,  no 
longer  needed  in  this  part  of  Illinois,  gradually  fell  to  pieces. 

In  spite  of  these  drawbacks  there  was  a  Rock  river  emigra- 
tion fever  prevalent  in  many  parts  of  the  country,  and  settlers 
poured  in  and  scattered  themselves  along  the  timbered  portions 
until  in  1840  the  population  of  the  valley  had  reached  21,500.3* 

After  1843  the  country  filled  up  with  amazing  rapidity  and 
in  1850  had  in  it  over  66,000  settlers.40  No  longer  did  the  small 
colonies  attract  the  attention  of  local  historians  and  our  infor- 
mation concerning. the  development  of  this  part  of  Illinois  must 


37  History  of  Ogle  County,  356. 

38  History  of  Rock  Island  County,  225. 
™  Seventh  Census  (1850),  701,  702. 
*»lbid.,  701,  702. 


[  146  ] 


POOLEY SETTLEMENT    OF    ILLINOIS,    1830-50  433 

be  derived  from  such  things  as  are  deemed  of  importance  by 
those  writers.  From  the  growth  of  the  cities  also  we  are  able 
indirectly  to  form  some  conclusion  concerning  the  growth  of  the 
agricultural  class1,  for  wherever  a  prosperous  agricultural  com- 
munity was  formed,  a  town  of  some  importance  was  close  by, 
since  the  latter  must  look  to  the  former  for  support. 

This  great  increase  may  be  attributed  to  several  causes.  The 
Bock  river  country  was  known  as  a  place  of  extraordinary 
facilities  for  agriculture.  Those  coming  during  the  period 
previous  to  1843  had  sent  extremely  favorable  reports  to  the 
East  and  naturally  others  followed  the  lead  of  the  pioneers. 
The  financial  revulsion  was  over  and  money  became  more  plenti- 
ful. Those  people  who  had  property  in  the  East  and  wished  to 
move  west  could  now  find  purchasers  and  were  set  at  liberty. 
During  this  period  Illinois  began  to  regain  her  good  name,  lost 
with  the  breaking  down  of  her  internal  improvement  scheme, 
and  her  half  notion  of  repudiation  of  her  debts.  Heavy  taxes, 
too,  had  kept  many  away,  but  with  the  re-establishment  of  her 
finances  upon  a  firm  and  honorable  basis  it  seems  that  immi- 
gration began  anew.  Finally  the  railroad  through  from  Chicago 
to  Galena  was1,  before  the  close  of  the  decade,  an  assured  fact. 
Many  flocked  to  the  neighborhood  of  its  line  seeing  its  value 
as  a  market  maker. 

From  1843  to  1850  is  a  period  of  rapid  growth,  but  chiefly  in 
the  agricultural  districts.  For  example,  the  river  towns  of 
Whiteside  county  show  very  little  growth,  while  those  settlements 
farther  inland  show  a  rapid  increase.  The  reason  is  evident. 
This  portion  of  the  county  had  been  settled  at  the  earliest  date 
and  all  the  available  land  had  been  taken  up,  consequently  the  N 
new  comers  moved  further  up  the  small  streams  toward  the  in- 
terior. In  Lee  county  the  number  of  small  settlements  increased 
in  numbers  and  in  size  while  Dixon  had  nearly  eight  hundred 
inhabitants  by  1851. 41  Property  valuation  had  increased  as  had 
the  amount  of  agricultural  products.42 


41  History  of  Lee  County,  105. 

42  Real   estate  was  valued   at  $L)15.000 ;    personal   property   at  $168,000,   and 
430,000   bushels  of    small    grain  were    produced    each    year     (Seventh   Censws 
(1850),  730-2).     There  were  also  twelve  corporations  producing  $60,000  worth, 
of  articles  each  year  (History  of  Lee  County,  74). 

[147] 


434  BULLETIN    OF    THE    TJNIVEKSITY    OF    WISCONSIN 

In  the  counties  of  Ogle,  DeKalb  and  Boone  there  was  little 
growth  in  population.  Lack  of  ready  money  and  of  markets  as 
well  as  disputes  over  land  claims  operated  against  the  growth 
of  settlement.  Moreover  when  the  news  of  the  discovery  of 
gold  in  California  reached  Illinois  a  number  of  the  farmers  left, 
preferring  to  try  their  fortune  in  the  far  West  rather  than  to 
struggle  against  the  difficulties  at  home.43  The  population  of 
these  counties  was  chiefly  of  the  agricultural  class  although 
Sycamore,  DeKalb  and  Belvidere  were  settlements  of  some  im- 
portance, the  last  having  a  population  of  about  one  thousand.44 
After  1845  the  increase  is  more  marked. 

An  examination  of  the  sources  of  population  in  the  counties 
treated  so  far  shows  a  decided  predominance  of  immigrants 
from  the  northern  states  and  a  very  few  from  the  southern 
states.45 

In  the  other  northern  counties  of  the  valley  the  increase  of 
settlement  was  more  rapid.  Winnebago  county  was  in  1850, 
as  in  1840,  the  most  populous  county  of  the  district,  having 
nearly  12,000  inhabitants.46  Remembering  the  unfavorable 
conditions  prevailing  in  the  county  during  the  early  forties, 
this  increase  of  settlement  which  must  necessarily  have  come 
during  the  last  five  or  six  years  of  the  decade,  is  remarkable. 
As  the  railroad  across  the  northern  part  of  the  state  was  to  pass 
through  the  most  thriving  town  in  the  county,  a  market  and  an 
outlet  for  produce  was  thereby  assured.  The  outlaw  gang  had 
been  driven  from  the  country,  the  financial  difficulties  were  re- 
moved and  settlements  having  sprung  up  all  over  the  county, 
it  was  no  longer  a  frontier.  In  these  things,  we  are  able  to  see 
the  causes  of  the  thriving  condition  of  the  new  country  scarcely 
two  decades  old. 

In  character  the  settlers  did  not  differ  from  those  hi  the  other 


<3  Boies,  History  of  DeKalb  County,  404. 

44  Seventh  Census  (1850),  703. 

45  An  examination  of  the  biographies  of  two  hundred  and  seventy-seven  early 
settlers   of   Whiteslde   county    shows   that   two   hundred   and   seven    came   from 
New  England  and  the  Middle  Atlantic  states  and  but  nine  from  the  southern 
states   (History  of  Whiteside  County,  77).     Of  three  hundred   and  twenty-nine 
in   Lee   county,    two   hundred    and    nineteen    were   northern    men ;     many   were 
foreigners  and  a  few  southerners  (History  of  Lee  County,  177). 

«  Seventh  Census  (1850),  702. 

[148] 


POOLEY SETTLEMENT    OP    ILLINOIS,    1830-50  435 

counties  of  the  valley.  New  Yorkers  and  New  Englanders 
greatly  outnumbered  the  settlers  from  other  places,  if  Rockford 
and  Rockton  may  be  taken  as  examples.47  Foreigners  were  also 
present.48  i 

Rockford  was  the  metropolis  of  the  northern  prairies  and  en- 
joyed the  most  rapid  and  steady  growth  of  any  of  the  towns 
along  the  Eock  river.49  From  a  few  scattered  houses  in  1838 
it  had  grown  to  a  town  of  1,500  houses  in  1850.50  Business  was 
thriving  and  numerous  stores1  were  supported  by  the  people  of 
the  surrounding  country  because  this  was  the  only  supply 
depot  between  Chicago  and  Galena.  -\  The  appearance  of  the 
town'  was  not  prepossessing^  State  street,  -the  business  street, 
was  "a  crooked  line  of  low  wooden  shops  a~nd  stores,"51  al- 
though there  were  some  respectable  brick  stores  in  the  town.52 
A  low  wooden  bridge  separated  rather  than  united  the  towns 
which  were  even  yet  rival  encampments  instead  of  parts1  of  the 
same  town.  The  inhabitants  of  one  town  very  seldom  ventured 
across  to  the  opposite  side  of  the  river  save  on  business  and  the 
adventurers  generally  came  home  as  quickly  as  possible.  The 
rivalry  did  not  cease  until  the  railroad  came  and  put  its  depot 
on  the  west  side,  which  in  the  minds  of  the  townsmen  balanced 
the  prestige  enjoyed  by  the  east  side  in  the  possession  of  the 
post-office. 

Travelers  seem  to  have  been  favorably  impressed  with  Rock- 
ford  at  this  date.  A  correspondent  for  a  New  York  paper 
praises  its  location  and  says,  "A  better  place  for  investments  in 


47  The  early  homes   of   eight  hundred   and   seventy-one   of   Rockford's   settlers 
are  known.     Four  hundred  and  seventy  came  from  New  York,  two  hundred  and 
thirty-seven  from  New  England  and  one  hundred  and  sixty-two  from  other  places 
in  Illinois.     (Church,  History  of  Rockford,  281.) 

One  hundred  and  two  of  the  early  settlers  of  Rockton  are  known.  Fifty- 
eight  were  New  Englanders ;  twenty-three  from  the  Middle  states ;  eighteen, 
foreigners  and  the  rest  from  various  places.  (Carr,  History  of  Rockton,  16.) 

48  A  colony  of  Scotch  were  at  Willow  Creek    (History  of  Winnebago  County, 
454). 

48  Population  of  Rockford  is  given  as  follows ;  in  1839,  235  (Church,,  His- 
tory of  Rockford,  148)  ;  in  1841,  800  (Chicago  Weekly  American,  Jan.  22,  1841)  ; 
in  1845,  1278  (Church,  History  of  Rockford,  281)  ;  in  1850,  2093  (Seventh  Cen- 
sus (1850),  717). 

50  New  York  Weekly  Tribune,  Aug.  30,  1848. 

51  Goodwin,  Commemorative  Discourse  (Rockford,  Aug.  14,  1870). 
12  Church,  History  of  Rockford,  233. 

[149] 


436  BULLETIN-    OF    THE    UNIVERSITY    OF    WISCONSIN 

milling,  manufacturing,  etc.,  I  did  not  see  in  the  western 
states."53  Still  anotEer-speaks  of  it  as,  "one  of  the  most  beau- 
tiful and  prosperous  villages  on  Rock  River^  doing  a  large, 
active  business  and  containing  "many  fine  buildings  and 
•  mills."54 

fC.. 

The  farmers  of  the  adjoining  county  were  rapidly  acquiring 
wealth  and  on  the  whole  were  abundantly  satisfied  with  their 
V  circumstances.  They  possessed  live  stock  valued  at  almost 
$270,000  in  1850,  and  during  the  preceding  year  had  produced 
786,000  bushels  of  small  grain,55  a  remarkable  development  when 
one  stops  to  think  that  fifteen  years  before  there  were  no  farms 
under  cultivation  in  Winnebago  county. 

Stephenson  county  more  than  kept  pace  with  Winnebago  dur- 
ing the  decade,  receiving  about  1,700  more  settlers  than  did  the 
latter  county  and  reaching  a  total  population  of  11,666.56  In 
spite  of  the  statements  made  by  the  local  historians  concerning 
the  slowness  of  settlement  during  the  decade  1841-1850,  it  is 
a  fact  that  this  county  increased  more  rapidly  than  did  any 
other  county  of  the  valley. 

Immigrants  from  the  Middle  States  and  particularly  from 
Pennsylvania  formed  the  greatest  part  of  the  early  pioneers  of 
Stephenson  county.  The  Pennsylvanians  were  Germans  who 
proved  themselves  to  be  a  substantial,  industrious  and  thrifty 
class  of  settlers.  A  typical  "Pennsylvania  Dutch"  colony  came 
in  1843  and  is  described  by  one  of  the  Pennsylvania  papers  in 
the  following  manner.57  "On  "Wednesday  May  31,  a  company 
of  about  sixty  emigrants  passed  through  this  place  on  their 
way  ...  to  Stephenson  county,  Illinois.  They  had  four- 
teen wagons,  each  drawn  by  an  elegant  span  of  horses. 
They  were  all  from  one  neighborhood,  had  plenty  of  cash  and 
appeared  in  fine  spirits." 

The  foreign  population   of  the  county  constantly  increased 


53  New  York  Weekly  Tribune,  Aug.  20,  1848. 
84  Curtiss,  Western  Portraiture,  283. 
M  Seventh  Census  (1850),  730,  732. 
53  Ibid.,  702. 

67  Clarion  (Pa.),  Register  (F^tract  copied  from  this  paper  by  The  Northwestern 
Gazette  and  Galena  Advertiser,  July  7,  1843). 


[150] 


POOLEY SETTLEMENT    OF    ILLINOIS,    1830-50  437 

and  congregated  in  and  around  Freeport.  This  place  had  in 
1850  a  population  of  1,436,58  one  fourth  of  which  were  foreign- 
ers, mostly  Germans.59 

As  Rockford  was  the  center  of  the  agricultural  district  of 
"Winnebago  county,  so  was  Freeport  of  Stephenson  county.  It 
was  situated  on  the  Galena-Chicago  state  road  along  which  the 
proposed  railroad  was  to  be  built.  Its  growth  was  as  yet  re- 
tarded by  the  fact  that  supplies  were  carried  from  Galena  to 
stock  its  stores,  but  the  energy  and  hopefulness  of  the  settlers 
helped  to  build  it  up  and  give  it  a  prominence  in  the  district 
which  was  to  be  increased  when  steam  traffic  was  finally  a  reality. 
Scattered  along  the  line  of  the  proposed  railroad  were  small 
settlements  patiently  awaiting  the  time  when  they,  too,  by  the 
aid  of  steam,  would  become  markets  for  agricultural  produce 
and  derive  benefit  from  the  products  of  the  country. 

To  the  north  and  south  of  the  railroad  line,  wherever  a  patch 
of  timber  gave  shelter  from  the  heat  of  summer  and  the  cold 
winds  of  winter,  there  could  be  found  a  settler's  cabin  and  be- 
fore the  end  of  the  period  every  available  bit  of  timber  had 
been  claimed.  The  farmers  owned  $326,000  worth  of  live  stock, 
and  produced  759,000  bushels  of  small  grain  in  1850.60  The 
prairies  were,  however,  still  unsubdued  if  we  may  judge  from 
the  amount  of  unimproved  land  at  this  date,  there  being  123,300 
acres  not  yet  under  cultivation  and  only  76,300  cultivated.61 
Low  prices  alone  worked  to  destroy  the  prosperity  of  the  farmer 
and  when  not  long  afterwards  a  remedy  was1  applied  the  ad- 
vance made  by  the  district  was  a  rapid  one.  For  a  time  the 
effect  of  the  gold  excitement  was  noticeable,  for  between  one 
and  two  hundred  settlers  left  Stephenson  county  for  the  West.62 

In  the  discussion  of  the  settlement  of  the  Rock  river  valley 
there  are  really  but  two  periods;  the  first  extending  to  about 
1843  when  the  revival  from  financial  troubles  took  place;  the 
second  extending  to  the  coming  of  the  railroads.  The  first  is 
one  of  beginnings  in  which  settlement  was  retarded  by  both  in- 


58  Seventh  Census  (1850),  715. 

69  Johnston,  Sketches  of  Stephenson  County,  79. 

80  Seventh  Census  (1850),  730,  732. 

61  Johnston,  Sketches  of  Stephenson  County,  71. 

82  History  of  Stephenson  County,  283. 

[151] 


438  BULLETIN    OF    THE    UNIVERSITY    OF    WISCONSIN 

ternal  and  external  influences.  Speculators  had  caused  a  period 
of  'boom'  which  collapsed  with  the  weakening  of  the  financial 
system.  Troubles  over  land  claims,  lack  of  markets,  the  pres- 
ence of  the  "Prairie. Pirates"  and  poor  communication  with  the 
outside  world  all  tended  to  make  this  earlier  period  one  of  un- 
certainty among  the  settlers. 

The  later  period  is  the  one  in  which  the  true  growth  began. 
Finances  were  again  comparatively  sound,  the  people  were  be- 
coming acquainted  with  their  prairie  environments  and  most  of 
all  the  coming  of  the  railroad  was  to  give  them  markets.  Fully 
appreciating  the  advantages  of  the  country,  and  fully  realizing 
that  in  order  to  take  advantage  of  the  opening  opportunities 
they  would  necessarily  have  to  be  on  the  scene  at  an  early  date, 
settlers  flocked  there  in  thousands,  coming  to  the  northern 
counties  in  the  greatest  numbers.63  Likewise  in  the  northern 
counties  were  located  the  chief  towns,  Freeport,  Eockford  and 
Belvidere.  In  the  southern  part  of  the  valley"  Dixon  and  Bock 
Island  alone  Lad  reached  the  dimensions  of  towns. 

A  glance  at  the  census  figures  will  show  the  northern  counties 
to  be  developing  more  rapidly  than  their  southern  neighbors. 
The  explanation  of  this  lies  in  the  influence  which  lines  of  com- 
munication have  upon  the  growth  and  character  of  new  settle- 
ments. Stage  roads  lead  from  Chicago  westward  across  the 
state  in  various  ways  to  the  Mississippi  river  towns.  Chief  of 
these  was  Galena.  The  road  leading  to  Galena  passed  to  the 
northward  from  Chicago  through  Belvidere,  Eockford  and  Free- 
port.  Emigrants  arriving  in  Chicago  from  the  East  by  way  of 
the  lakes  and  bound  for  the  Eock  river  valley  seemed  inclined 
to  select  this  road  to  their  destination.  As  an  example,  Belvi- 
dere, according  to  the  local  historian,  owed  its  develop- 
ment to  the  fact  that  it  was  situated  on  this  road. 
Moreover,  the  railroad  was  surveyed  through  these  counties  and 
the  farmers1  knew  that  the  value  of  their  produce,  to  a 


^Whiteside  and  Lee  counties  had  a  combined  population  of  17,590  In  1850, 
a  gain  of  10,400  In  the  decade;  DeKalh  and  Boone  had  about  15,000,  having 
gained  11,760  while  Winnebago  and  Stephenson  had  33,500  inhabitants  which 
was  a  gain  of  almost  23,600  for  the  decade  (Seventh  Census  (1850),  701-2). 


[152] 


POOLEY SETTLEMENT    OF    ILLINOIS,    1830-50  439' 

great  extent,  depended  upon  the  expense  incurred  in  getting 
it  to  market,  so  they  got  as  close  as  possible  to  the  new  line  of 
transportation. 

New^_Enoianders  and  New  Yorkers  ..were  by  far  the  most 
numerous  elements  in  the  population.  "Pennsylvania  Dutch," 
Germans,  Norwegians,  and  English,  Irish  and  Canadians  were 
generally  grouped  in  settlements  by  themselves,  but  they  formed 
a  considerable  part  of  the  population  of  some  districts, 
especially  in  Freeport  and  the  northern  portions  of  Stephenson 
county. 

As  a  result  of  this  influence  of  New  England  and  the  northern  "A  >c  y 
states,  schools  and  churches  rapidly  sprang  into  existence,  for 
it  was  evident  that  wherever  half  a  dozen  families  were- 
grouped  there  must  be  a  school  and  there  must  be  divine  services 
if  these  people  were  to  be  contented  with  their  lot  in  the  western 
country.  If  we  could  follow  their  development  farther  it  would 
be  seen  that  but  few  years  indeed  elapsed  between  the  log  church 
and  school  house  and  those  of  more  pleasing  and  imposing 
appearance. 

However,  it  must  be  said  that  the  true  development  of  the 
Rock  river  valley  was  just  beginning;  vast  stretches1  of  prairie 
land  still  were  lying  unoccupied  and  the  work  of  the  railroads- 
was  yet  to  be  done.  The  foundations  had  been  laid  during  the 
period  previous  to  1850  but  the  social  and  industrial  develop- 
ment of  the  region  was  to  be  the  task  of  those  who  were  to  come 
later,  and  who  by  the  aid  of  transportation  facilities  and  im- 
proved farm  machinery  were  to  leave  the  woodlands  for  the  open, 
prairies. 


[153] 


440  BULLETIN    OF    THE    UNIVERSITY    OF    WISCONSIN 


CHAPTER  VIII 


Eastern  Illinois  is  truly  the  prairie  district  of  the  state ;  and 
//  in  this  district  settlement  developed  slowly,  but  five  counties 
having  been  organized  previous  to  1830.1  The  period  from  1830 
to  1850  was  one  of  beginnings  in  this  part  of  Illinois.  From 
the  first  appearance  of  American  settlers  until  the  railway  had 
developed  into  a  probability,  the  settlements  were  sparse,  for 
here,  too,  the  prejudice  of  the  pioneers  against  the  prairies  dis- 
played itself.  Few  indeed  were  the  settlers  who  ventured  away 
from  the  sheltering  timber  along  the  rivers  and  in  nearly  every 
case  the  early  settlements  are  to  be  found  on  the  edge  of  the 
timber  lands.  Exceptions,  of  course,  there  were  but  they  were 
few.  Along  the  most-traveled  roads  leading  from  the  Wabash 
river  settlements  to  those  along  the  Illinois  river  or  to  Chicago, 
an  occasional  pioneer  more  venturesome  than  the  rest  built  his 
little  cabin,  but  even  in  such  cases  he  was  careful  to  select  some 
spot  where  timber  was  close. 

Local  historians  of  eastern  Illinois  are  agreed  on  the  point 
that  the  scarcity  of  settlement  in  that-district  prior  to  1850  was 
due  entirely  to  the  inaccessibleness  of  the  country.  Mr.  Beck- 
with  in  his  History  of  Vermilion  County  says  there  was  no  settle- 
ment on  the  prairie  until  1849  when  a  rush  of  immigration 
came  in,  in  anticipation  of  the  passage  of  Douglas's  Illinois 


1  The  counties  discussed  under  the  head  "Eastern  Illinois"  are  Jasper,  Effing- 
ham,  Cumberland,  Coles,  Shelby,  Moultrie,  Douglas,  Edgar,  Vermilion,  Champaign, 
Piatt,  Macon,  Logan,  DeWltt,  McLean,  Livingston,  Ford,  Iroquois  and  Kanka- 
kee.  Of  these  Vermilion,  Edgar,  Shelby,  Macon,  and  McLean  were  organized 
before  1831. 


[154] 


POOLEY SETTLEMENT    OF    ILLINOIS,    1830-50  441 


©       Towns  of  over  1,000  inhabitants. 
•        Towns  of  less  than  1,000. 

EASTERN  ILLINOIS   (1850) 

North  and  east  of  the  curved  line  is  the  prairie ;  less  than  20  per  cent,  woodland. 
Year  indicates  date  of  county  organization. 


[155] 


442  BULLETIN    OF    THE    UNIVERSITY    OF    "WISCONSIN 

Central  Railroad  bill,  the  discussion  of  which  in  Congress  had 
attracted  much  attention  to  the  prairie  lands  of  the  state.2 

The  combined  population  of  the  five  counties  organized  at  the 
opening  of  the  period  (1830)  was  less  than  14,500  and  two- 
thirds  of  this  number  were  within  the  limits  of  Vermilion  and 
Edgar  counties  on  the  Wabash  river.3  Before  the  organization 
of  the  state  Edgar  county  had  received  settlers  and  during  the 
closing  years  of  the  decade  1821-1830  immigrants  had  poured 
into  this  portion  of  the  state  in  increased  numbers,  distributing 
themselves  along  the  rivers.  Generally  speaking,  these  early 
pioneers  were  from  Kentucky,  Tennessee,  Ohio  and  the  Caro- 
linas.  Directly  to  the  north  lay  Vermilion  county.  Here  the 
population  was  grouped  in  the  timber  lands  along  the  Vermilion 
river  and  its  tributaries  in  the  southeastern  part  of  the  county. 

IDaiiville,  the  chief  town,  situated  on  the  Vermilion  river 
which,  at  that  time,  was  navigable  for  steamboats  during  a 
great  part  of  the  year,  had  a  population  of  three  hundred  and 
fifty  and  was  the  most  important  settlement  in  this  part  of  the 
state.4  Coal  mining  which  later  was  to  become  the  great  in- 
dustry around  the  settlement  had  begun,  but  only  on  a  small 
scale  for  the  settlers  did  not  comprehend  the  value  of  the  coal 
fields  and  instead  of  claiming  great  portions  were  content  to 
dig  only  what  they  needed  for  immediate  use.5 

"While  the  early  years  of  the  decade  1831-1840  were  prosper- 
ous years  for  central  Illinois  the  spread  of  population  was  not 
rapid  in  either  of  the  "Wabash  river  counties  although  they  both 
increased  considerably  in  numbers  of  settlers.6  A.  filling-in 
process  was  going  on  here  instead  of  an  extension  of  the  frontier 
line  and  the  timbered  banks  of  the  numerous  branches  of  the 
Wabash  which  crossed  this  part  of  the  state  were  being  taken  up. 
Timber  seemed  plentiful  and  as  yet  there  was  no  necessity  for 


2  Beckwith,  History  of  Vermilion  County,  801. 

*  Vermilion  and  Edgar  counties  had  5,800  and  4,100  settlers  respectively ; 
Shelby  county  had  3.00O ;  Macon  county  1,100 ;  and  McLean  county  had  less 
than  one  hundred  families.  Seventh  Census  (IS50),  701,  702. 

4  Danville  had  six  stores,  four  saw  mills',  two  grist  mills,  a  post-office,  a  court- 
house and  a  land  office.  Illinois  Monthly  Hagazine,  2,  4o6. 

5Beckwith,  History  of  Vermilion  County,  847. 

'  Some  7,500  settlers  were  added  to  the  population  of  the  two  counties  during 
the  decade.  Seventh  Census  (1850),  701,  702. 


I  156  ] 


POOLEY SETTLEMENT    OF    ILLINOIS,    1830-50  443 

the  pioneer  to  move  out  into  the  prairies.  Condensation,  how- 
ever, was  aided  by  another  influence,  for  early  in  the  thirties'  the 
Indian  troubles  in  the  north  frightened  many  of  the  settlers  of 
the  uppe'r  Illinois  river  counties  back  to  the  stronger  settlements 
in  the  south.  Here  and  there  in  the  small  groves  of  northern 
Vermilion  county  and  along  the  Hubbard  trace  leading  to  Chi- 
cago were  small  settlements  which  were  broken  up  at  the  first 
alarm,  the  settlers  moving  to  safer  places  and  it  was  some  time 
before  they  dared  to  return  to  their  former  abodes. 

From  1841  to  1850  new  forces  were  at  work,  tending  to  at- 
tract settlement  to  other  parts  of  the  state  rather  than  to  the 
Wabash  river  counties.  Little  timber  land  was  left  on  the 
eastern  side  of  the  state  and  the  ordinary  immigrant  could  not 
afford  to  pay  fancy  prices  to  be  allowed  to  remain  in  the  older 
settled  regions.  The  prairies  alone  were  left  in  Vermilion  and 
Edgar  counties  and  since  practically  nothing  was  known  con- 
cerning pioneer  life  on  these  enormous  tracts  of  unsheltered 
country  the  pioneer  feared  to  settle  on  them,  thus  being  prac- 
tically compelled  to  pass  on  by  the  eastern  line  of  settlement 
and  head  for  the  timber  line  of  the  Illinois  and  Sangamon 
rivers  or  northward  to  the  Iroquois  and  Kankakee.  Favorable 
reports,  too,  came  from  the  interior  of  the  state  concerning 
fertile  land,  fine  timber  and  good  water. 

Later  in  the  decade  the  Douglas  Illinois  Central  Railroad 
bill  drew  much  attention  to  that  portion  of  the  state  west  from 
Vermilion  and  Edgar  and  when  the  rush  of  settlers  came  dur- 
ing the  closing  years  of  the  decade  this  influence  also  operated 
to  the  detriment  of  these  counties  for  the  railroad  was  too  far 
to  the  west  to  come  in  contact  in  any  way  with  the  "Wabash 
river  settlements. 

Besides,  across  the  prairie  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  San- 
gamon river,  settlements  occurred  often  enough  to  remove  the 
more  evident  frontier  characteristics,  but  not  so  often  as  to  leave 
no  desirable  land  for  newcomers.  In  short,  central  Illinois  \ 
along  the  western  skirts  of  the  great  prairie  offered  more  ad- 
vantages to  the  pioneer  at  a  less  expense  than  did  the  older 
Wabash  settlements  and  naturally  he  went  there. 

Danville  was  in  1850,  the  most  important  town  in  this  part  of 

[157] 


444  BULLETIN    OF    THE    UNIVERSITY    OF    WISCONSIN 

the  state  but  it  was  not  a  city.  In  other  parts  of  the  state 
Quincy,  Galena  and  Chicago  had  grown  to  be  cities  at  this  date 
because  of  developed  resources  and  because  of  favorable  loca- 
tions, but  Danville  not  being  a  market  of  consequence,  or  the 
key  to  a  great  transportation  line,  was  dependent,  upon  an  un- 
developed resource — coal.  "When  mining  was  begun  on  a  large 
scale,  Danville  became  a  population  center  of  sufficient  import- 
ance to  be  called  a  city. 

The  other  settlements  of  importance  in  these  counties  were 
Paris,  Georgetown,  Grand  View.  Enibarras  and  Butler's  Point.* 
Paris  was  the  chief  town  of  Edgar  county  and  Georgetown  in 
Vermilion  county,  being  the  seat  of  a  seminary  which  for  quite 
a  time  was  an  educational  center  of  importance,  was  a  settle- 
ment of  considerable  size  in  1850.8  The  population  of  the  two 
counties  amounted  to  over  22,100  souls.9 

As  the  pioneers  approached  the  heart  of  the  great  prairie, 
the  headwaters  of  those  streams  flowing  into  the  "Wabash.  Ohio 
and  Mississippi  rivers  were  reached.  These  tributaries  being 
small,  unnavigable  streams,  offered  little  communication  with 
the  rest  of  the  state  and  it  was  with  slow  and  somewhat  uncer- 
tain steps  that  the  settlers  ventured  from  southern  Illinois,  or 
the  Sangamon  country,  to  take  possession  of  the  timber  lands  in 
the  prairie.  The  scanty  settlements  in  this  part  of  the  state  in 
1830  show  how  slowly  the  acquisition  of  territory  was  going  on. 

Effingham  county  had  but  fifty  families  in  1830,10  all  collected 
in  five  communities  in  the  timber  near  the  Enibarras  river;  St. 
Marie  and  Xewton  settlements  near  the  same  stream  were  the 
settlements  of  greatest  note  in  Jasper  county.  The  scanty  pop- 
ulation of  Cumberland  county  must  be  attributed  to  the  wet, 
swampy  character  of  the  soil,  which  made  it  poorly  adapted  for 
farming  land.  A  settlement  of  Kentuckians  and  Tennesseeans 
on  Bear  Creek  was  the  most  important  one  in  the  county  in 
1830."  Coles  county  had  sixty  voters  in  1831.12  Moultrie  and 


• -i*»  Cm***  (1S50).  7C7. 

*  Beckwith.  Higtcrp  o~  Vermilion  County,  521. 
»  Srremn  Cmnw  (185O),  701-702. 
"  Perrin.  History  of  EffSngiiam  County.  12. 
-1  Hitiory  of  Cumberland,  Jczpfr  and  Richlamd  Countiet,  112. 
a  History  of  Coles  County.  244. 

[158] 


POOLEY SETTLEMENT    OF    ILLINOIS,    1830-50  445 

Douglas  counties,  not  so  many.  Macon  county,  on  the  ex- 
treme eastern  side  of  the  Sangamon  country,  profiting  by  the 
timbered  portions  of  the  streams  and  by  its  proximity  to  the 
older  established  settlements  of  Sangamon  county,  had  a  con- 
siderable population.  The  Stevens  and  Ward  settlements,  sit- 
uated one  on  either  side  of  the  Sangamon  river,  near  the  present 
site  of  Decatur,  were  the  chief  settlements.13  The  greater  part 
of  the  population  lay  along  the  river  near  the  above-mentioned 
villages.  Decatur  was  a  settlement  having  no  distinction  save 
that  of  having  a  dozen  log  cabins  and  a  street  filled  with 
stumps.14 

Although  De  Witt  county  had  settlers  in  the  early  twenties,  the 
spread  of  settlement  progressed  slowly.  In  1829  Governor 
Reynolds  addressed  the  voters  of  the  county  at  a  political  meet- 
ing which  was  attended  by  all  the  voters  for  miles  around. 
Twenty-five  in  all  came,  "a  motley  crew,  half  of  them  at  least 
wereybare  foot,  while  the  best  dressed  were  in  their  shirt 
sleeves."15  Logan,  Piatt,  Champaign  and  Ford  counties  had 
small  settlements  here  and  there  but  with  the  exception  of 
Champaign  county  they  remained  unorganized  for  years. 

McLean  county,  owing  to  its  abundance  of  good  timber  land 
and  the  fact  that  it  lay  close  to  the  older  settlements,  filled  up 
rapidly,  especially  in  the  timbered  tracts.  The  names  Dry 
Grove,  Twin  Grove,  Blooming  Grove  and  Funk's  Grove,  tell  „ 
plainly  the  story  of  settlement  in  McLean  as  well  as  in  other 
counties  of  this  part  of  Illinois.  No  settlers  ventured  away 
from  the  timber  before  1849  or  1850.16  Blooming  Grove,  soon 
to  become  Bloomington,  was  the  most  important  settlement  in 
the  county  and  had  twenty  families  hi  1830."  Along  the  Ver- 
milion in  Livingston  county  and  at  Bunkum  and  Milford  in 
Iroquois  were  gathered  a  few  families. 

Tri_1j30  Danvinp,  Paris,  Blooming  Grove  and_Decatur  v  -re 
the  ftnlv__sgtt.]ftmp!Tits  of  any  size  in  this  part  of  Illinois.     The       > 
rest  of  the  population  was  scattered  throughout  the  country  in 


"History  of  Macon  County,  31. 

14  History  of  Edgar  County,  306. 

15  History  of  DeWitl  County,  296. 
14  History  of  McLean  County,  591. 
17  Ibid.,  306. 

[  159  ] 


446  BULLETIN    OF    THE    UNIVERSITY    OF    WISCONSIN 

the  timber  lands,  practically  cut  off  from  the  rest  of  the  state, 
almost  destitute  of  markets  and  of  those  commodities  generally 
enjoyed  by  older  settlements. 

However,  a  change  was  beginning  to  come  about,  for  agri- 
cultural implements  were  now  of  as  much  importance  as  the  axe 
-and  the  rifle ;  and  the  pioneer  began  to  forsake  the  bluffs  and  the 
bottomlands  along  the  rivers  and  to  adapt  himself  to  new  en- 
vironments. The  outside  edge  of  the  timber  was  found  to  be 
more  convenient  than  the  river  banks,  for  the  only  chopping 
necessary  was  for  the  cabin  since  nature  had  made  the  clear- 
ings long  before  the  coming  of  the  pioneers.  Here  began'  a 
period  of  experimentation  in  which  the  pioneer  was  to  get  an 
idea  of  the  possibilities  of  the  great  uncultivated  fields  all  around 
him.  For  a  time  he  felt  himself  powerless  to  take  advantage 
of  them  since  he  had  no  means  by  which  he  could  keep  in  touch 
with  the  rest  of  the  world.  Neither  could  he  solve  the  problem 
of  wood  and  shelter,  when  separated  from  the  friendly  timber. 

Hard  times,  lack  of  markets  close  at  hand,  financial  distress, 
state  debts,  high  taxation,  unfavorable  reports  spread  by  dis- 
satisfied pioneers,  which  tended  to  keep  back  settlers,  all  made 
the  task  of  the  prairie  man  harder  through  this  period  from  1830 
to  1850.  The  railroads  had  not  been  built  yet  and  without  their 
aid  in  solving  the  problem  of  transportation  and  communica- 
tion it  is  small  wonder  that  the  pioneers  from  Kentucky,  Tenn- 
essee and  Ohio  whose  experience  had  all  been  with  the  timber 
lands,  advanced  with  caution  and  even  timidity  to  the  task  which 
lay  before  them. 

Turning  now  to  the  southern  counties  of  the  prairie  region, 
the  growth  of  settlement  shows  that  the  pioneers  of  Jasper 
county  came  principally  from  Kentucky,  Ohio  and  Indiana  with 
some  from  the  eastern'  and  southern  states.  They  were  "squat- 
ters" who  had  been  obliged  by  circumstances  to  leave  the  more 
thickly  populated  districts  and  begin  life  again  in  a  new 
country.18  By  1834  there  were  enough  people  to  warrant  the 
formation  of  a  new  county,  but  the  number  must  have  been 
small,  since  at  the  first  few  courts  held,  the  services  of  nearly 


18  History  of  Cumberland,  Jasper  and  Richland  Counties,  382-383. 

[160] 


POOLEY SETTLEMENT    OF    ILLINOIS,    1830-50  447 

all  the  male  inhabitants  in  the  county  were  required  to  conduct 
the  court  proceedings.19  Land  was  taken  up  slowly.  In  1836 
there  were  possibly  ten  pieces  of  deeded  land  in  the  county  and 
conditions  remained  so  until  about  1845.20  Newton,  the  chief 
village,  in  1835  consisted  of  but  four  or  five  families  and  while 
it  had  no  public  buildings,  the  Village  was  fortunate  in  having 
a  sawmill,  an  institution  highly  prized  by  our  pioneer  an- 
cestors.21 The  mail  came  once  a  week  when  the  water  was  not 
too  high. 

In  1837  an  important  addition  was  made  to  the  population  of 
the  county.  For  years  there  had  been,  in  some  parts  of  France, 
a  desire  among  the  peasantry  to  attempt  the  planting  of  a  colony 
in  America.  The  Picquet  families,  all  well-to-do  people,  being 
attracted  by  the  plan,  sent  one  of  their  number  to  America  to 
select  and  purchase  a  place  suitable  for  the  establishment  of  a 
colony.  After  traveling  quite  extensively  through  the  states  of 
the  middle  West  the  agent  selected  a  site  in  Jasper  county  and 
returned  to  France  in  1836  to  make  his  report.  In  the  follow- 
ing year  a  colony  of  twenty-five  people  arrived  from  France, 
purchased  12,000  acres  of  land  and  settled  at  St.  Marie,  calling 
their  settlement  the  Colonie  des  Freres.22  In  1840  the  settlers 
in  the  county  did  not  number  1,500  in  all.  The  chief  settle- 
ments were  Newton  and  St.  Marie.23 

After  1845,  the  lands  began  to  be  taken  up  more  rapidly  and 
new  settlers  were  not  so  scarce.  In  the  closing  years  of  the  dec- 
ade, when  the  hard  times  were  over  and  Illinois  had  voted 
against  repudiation  and  when  the  railroad  seemed  more  than  a 
mere  possibility,  settlements  increased  in  number.  The  popula- 
tion of  the  county  numbered  in  1850  more  than  3,200  souls  and 
Newton,  the  chief  center  of  population,  had  with  its  surrounding 
farms  a  population  of  more  than  1,100.  The  Crooked  Creek, 
North  Fork  and  St.  Marie  settlements  had  between  four  and 
seven  hundred  settlers  each.24 


™IMd.,  389. 

20  Ibid.,  388. 

21  Ibid.,  481. 

22  Ibid.,  484. 

23 Seventh  Census  (1850),  709. 
24  Ibid.,  709. 

11  [  161  ] 


448  BULLETIN    OF    THE    UNIVERSITY    OF    WISCONSIN 

Cumberland  county,  directly  north  of  Jasper,  was  settled  to 
some  extent  by  1830,  but  was  not  organized  until  1843,  since  the 
development,  like  that  of  Jasper,  was  slow  during  these  years. 
Like  Jasper,  too,  the  greater  part  of  the  county  was  not  in  the 
hands  of  actual  settlers  until  about  I860.25 

The  beginning  of  work  on  the  National  Road  through  this 
county  in  1832  gave  an  impetus  to  immigration  and  attracted 
not  a  few  settlers  to  its  immediate  vicinity,  most  of  whom  came 
from  Ne'w  York  and  Ohio.26  Greenup,  located  on  the  Embarras 
river  where  it  was  crossed  by_  the  Old  National  Road,  was  the 
most  desirable  place  for  settlement,  and  by  1840  it  was'  a  thriv- 
ing village  with  mills  and  business  advantages  superior  to  any 
other  settlement  for  miles  around.27  In  1850  its  population 
numbered  more  than  nine  hundred.28 

Outside  of  Greenup,  the  county  filled  up  slowly  and  before 
1850  settlement  was  at  a  standstill.  Cholera  visited  this  part 
of  Illinois  during  the  forties  and  added  to  the  difficulties  beset- 
ting the  pioneers  and  when  the  news  of  the  discovery  of  gold  in 
California  came,  quite  a  number  of  the  settlers  left.29 

Although  there  were  no  public  buildings  in  Cumberland 
county  for  several  years,  owing  to  the  inability  of  the  inhabitants 
to  decide  upon  a  county  town,30  it  was  very  well  supplied  with 
school-houses.  One  church,  built  of  logs,  was  the  only  house  of 
worship  in  1840.31 

Immediately  after  the  close  of  our  period,  a  time  of  prosperity 
began,  for  the  land  warrants  issued  by  the  United  States  gov- 
ernment to  the  soldiers  of  the  Mexican  War  were  converted  into 
holdings  by  the  soldiers  themselves,  or  had  passed  into  the 
hands  of  others  desiring  land  and  in  the  years  following  1850 
nearly  every  acre  in  the  county  was  taken  up.32  The  population 
of  the  county  in  this  year  was  a  few  more  than  3, TOO.33 


25  History  of  Cumberland,  Jasper  and  Richland  Counties,  105. 
28 /bid.,  113-114. 
*7  IUd.,  123. 

JS  Seventh  Census  (1850),  706. 

28  History  of  Cumberland,  Jasper  and  Richland  Counties,  114. 
*°  Ibid.,  136. 
S1lbid.,  172. 
32Il>id.,  114. 
88  Seventh  Census  (1850),  701. 


[162] 


POOLEY SETTLEMENT    OF    ILLINOIS.,    1830-50  449 

In  1831  Effingham  county  was  organized  and  during  the 
early  part  of  the  decade  increased  in  population  quite  rapidly, 
especially  along  the  National  Road  which  crossed  the  county. 
A  census  taken  in  1835  credits  Effingham  county  with  about 
1,000  settlers  and  two  hundred  acres  of  improved  farm  lands.34 
Soon  after,  owing  to  the  arrival  of  the  German  colony  which  set- 
tled at  Teutopolis,  the  land  market  was  active  and  a  consider- 
able amount  of  land  was  taken  up. 

In  1837  Teritopolis  was  located  and  at  once  became  a  settle- 
ment of  importance  and  the  nucleus  of  the  foreign  population 
of  the  county.  A  company  of  Germans,  one  hundred  and  forty 
in  number,  was  formed  in  Cincinnati  for  the  purpose  of  found- 
ing a  settlement  in  some  western  state.  The  subscribers  were  to 
pay  ten  dollars  a  month  until  a  sum  of  $16,000  had  been  raised. 
In  the  meantime  an  investigating  and  exploring  committee  was 
appointed  to  select  a  suitable  place  for  a  town.  This  committee, 
after  tramping  through  a  considerable  part  of  Indiana  and  Ill- 
inois, decided  upon  Effin«tanj_^ounty  as  the  most  desirable  lo- 
cation, and  reported  it  to  the  company  as  such.  The  comjiany 
boughtlO,000  acres  of  land  jand  laid  out  a  town  whose  main 
street  was  the  National  Road. 


In  1838  the  settlers  "Bejpn  to  arrive,  some  coming  directly 
from  Germany  and  others  from  the  German  settlements  around 
Cincinnati.  Those  from  the  latter  place  came  by  water  to  St. 
Louis  and  then  by  wagons  to  Teutopolis,  a  distance  of  one  hun- 
dred miles.35  In  all  there  were  ninety  families.36  From  time 
to  time  other  families  came  and  settled  in  the  neighborhood. 
Douglas,37  St.  Francis38  and  Liberty  townships  were  centers  of 
German  settlement.  The  latter  had  a  varied  population,  how- 
ever, numbering  'New  Englanders,  Buckeyes,  Southerners, 
Hoosiers,  English,  Irish  and  Poles'  along  with  its  Germans.39 

Although  the  county  had  3,700  inhabitants  in  I860,40  it  had 


34  Perrin,  History  of  Efflngliam  County,  56. 
S5/6tcZ.,  251. 

36  Salsbacher,  Heine  Reise  nacJi  der  Vereinigten  Btaaten,  229,  note. 
37~Douglas    township    had    forty-four    adult   male    Germans   in    1840.      Perrin, 
Effingham  County,  147. 
88  IUd.,  232. 
39  Ilild.,  239. 
«° Seventh  Census  (1850),  701. 

[163] 


450        BULLETIN  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  WISCONSIN 

I  not  a  single  church  and  not  until  1852  was  a  house  of  worship 
(erected.  When  the  first  church  was  built,  it  was  a  simple  log 
structure  and  was  made  to  serve  as  both  school-house  and  church 
and  was  free  to  all  denominations.41 

The  beginnings  of  settlement  were  made  in  Shelby  county 
before  1830  and  at  that  date  the  county  had  already  been  or- 
ganized and  had  nearly  3,000  settlers.  The  early  date  of  set- 
tlement may  be  explained  by  the  fact  that  the  county  is  well 
watered  and  well  timbered  since  it  is  drained  by  many  tribu- 
taries of  the  Kaskaskia  river.  The  increase  in  the  number  of 
settlers  during  the  twenty  years  amounted  to  4,800.  Moultrie 
county,  however,  had  been  cut  off  from  Shelby  county  in  1843 
which  serves  in  part  to  account  for  the  small  increase  in  the 
number  of  settlers.  Moultrie  county's  population  in  1850  was 
.a  few  more  than  3,200.42 

By  far  the  greater  number  of  the  pioneers  of  these  two  counties 
•came  from  states  west  of  the  Alleghanies1,  which  seems  to 
Indicate  that  in  this  part  of  Illinois  the  absence  of  lines  of  com- 
munication with  the  far  eastern  states  served  to  limit  the  classes 
of  settlers  to  those  who  came  from  neighboring  states.48 

At  the  first  election  held  after  the  organization  of  Coles 
county  in  1831,  sixty  votes  were  cast.44  At  the  end  of  the  de- 
cade the  population  numbered  9,000,  Mattoon  and  Charleston 
being  the  chief  towns.45  Unfavorable  conditions  existed  in  the 
county  but  the  number  of  settlers  increased  in  spite  of  the  lack 
of  markets  and  the  existing  poor  prices.48  In  1850  there  were 
eight  townships  claiming  between  seven  and  fourteen  hundred 
settlers  each.  Charleston  was  a  village  of  importance,  having 


«  perrin(  History  of  Efftngliam  County,  176. 

0  For  population  of  Shelby  and  Moultrie  counties  see  Seventh  Census  (1850), 
701-702. 

*3  The  biographies  of  four  hundred  and  fifty  pioneers  of  Shelby  and  Moultrie 
counties  have  been  examined  with  the  following  results.  Ninety-five  settlers 
came  from  Ohio,  eighty-seven  from  Kentucky,  seventy  from  Tennessee,  sixty- 
six  from  other  parts  of  Illinois,  forty  from  the  southern  states,  thirty-six  from 
Indiana  and  a  few  were-  foreigners  and  from  the  eastern  states.  History  of 
Shelby  and  Moultrie  Counties,  319-333. 

0  History  of  Coles  County,  244. 

"Seventh  Census  (1850),  705. 

49  Corn  sold  for  eight  cents  a  bushel  and  wheat  for  twenty-five  cents.  A  cow 
and  a  calf  brought  eight  dollars  and  good  horses  were  bought  for  forty  dol- 
lars. History  of  Coles  County,  460. 

[164] 


POOLEY SETTLEMENT    OF    ILLINOIS,    1830-50  451 

eight  hundred  and  fifty  inhabitants.47  School  houses  had  been 
erected  at  various  places  in  the  county  and  Charleston  had  a 
church  and  a  newspaper  office.48  The  settlers  came  chiefly  from 
Kentucky  with  some  representatives  from  Virginia,  Tennessee, 
the  Carolinas  and  the  states  of  the  Middle  West.49 

Champaign  county  owing  to  its  location  in  the  heart  of  the 
great  prairie  district,  did  not  fill  up  rapidly,  for  timber  was 
scarce.  Permanent  settlements  were  few  before  the  Black  Hawk 
War  but  after  danger  from  the  Indians  had  passed  settlements- 
sprang  up  in  the  timber.  Urbana,  Mahomet,  Newcomb,  St. 
Joseph,  Condit  and  Sidney  all  had  settlers  by  184050  when  the 
population  of  the  county  amounted  to  about  1,500  people.81 

Urbana,  the  county  town,  was  the  most  important  settlement 
and  boasted  of  having  a  store  in  1834.  The  goods  sold  here  had 
been  purchased  in  Philadelphia,  carted  over  the  mountains  to 
Pittsburg  and  shipped  down  the  Ohio  to  Evansville,  Indiana, 
from  which  place  they  were  brought  to  Urbana  by  wagons. 
Owing  to  the  heavy  cost  of  transportation,  it  is  not  surprising: 
to  learn  that  calico  and  the  coarsest  kind  of  brown  muslin  brought 
prices  varying  from  thirty-five  to  fifty  cents  a  yard.  Other 
articles  sold  at  correspondingly  high  prices.52  Among  the 
settlers  of  Urbana  were  numbered  a  physician,  a  preacher, 
a  lawyer  and  still  more  important  personages  for  frontier  set- 
tlements, a  blacksmith  and  a  wagon  maker.53 

In  the  next  decade  the  population  of  the  county  increased  to 
about  2,700  souls  with  Urbana  and  Homer  as  the  chief  towns,, 
neither  of  which  had  more  than  two  hundred  settlers.54  Cham- 
paign, now  by  far  the  most  important  city  of  the  county,  hacl  not 
a  single  settler,  being  entirely  the  product  of  the  railroad  which 
crossed  the  county  in  the  next  decade. 

While  Champaign  was  not  a  frontier  county  in  1850,  and 
while  it  was  a  large  county  with  exceedingly  fertile  land,  the 


"Seventh  Census  (1850),  705. 

48  History  of  Coles  County,  318-322. 

48  Ibid.,  500. 

50  Lothrop,  Champaign  County  Directory,  373-428. 

61  Seventh  Census  (1850),  T01. 

82  Lothrop,  Champaign  County  Directory,  124. 

53  Ibid.,  439. 

"Seventh  Census  (1850),  701-705. 

[165] 


452        BULLETIN  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  WISCONSIN 

population  was  much  smaller  than  that  of  many  other  counties 
located  in  the  northern  or  western  parts  of  the  state.  The  slow 
settlement  can  be  attributed  to  two  things;  the  lack  of  lines  of 
communication  with  the  populous  eastern  states,  and  the 
scarcity  of  tjf&iber  land.  The  pioneers  had  not  by  1850  learned 
the  solution  of  the  problems  of  the  prairie  and  those  who  came 
to  eastern  Illinois  sought  places  where  timber  was  more  plenti- 
ful than  here. 

The  earliest  settlers  had  come  to  De  Witt  county  before  1830 
but  the  organization  of  the  county  did  not  take  place  until 
1839,  owing  to  the  small  number  of  inhabitants.  The  Salt 
Creek  settlement,  now  known  as  Farmer  City,  had  but  four 
families  in  1832  and  the  nearest  neighbors  were  ten  miles  away. 
In  1839  the  number  of  families1  had  grown  to  nineteen.56  De  Witt 
and  Clinton  villages  had  their  first  houses  erected  in  1835  and 
1836.56  By  1840  the  former  had  a  store,  a  mill,  a  hotel,  a  post- 
office  and  a  church  which  made  it  a  town  of  much  importance 
in  the  county.57  In  1840  the  population  of  the  county  was 
about  3,250  and  in  1850  it  was  5,000;  Clinton  and  Waynesville 
with  from  three  to  four  hundred  inhabitants  each,  being  the 
principal  settlements.58 

The  nativities  of  the  pioneers  of  De  Witt  county  show  that 
the  early  settlers  came  chiefly  from  the  states  of  the  Middle 
West,  the  representatives  of  the  eastern  states  being  few.59 

The  settlement  of  Piatt  county  began  in  1830  when  some 
settlers  came  from  Ohio.  The  county  government,  was  organ- 
ized in  1840  with  Monticello,  a  village  of  one  hundred  inhabi- 
tants, as  the  county  town.60  Settlement  increased  but  slowly 
in  the  county  and  in  1850  the  population  was  but  1,600.61 

Macon  county  which  at  the  opening  of  this  period  had  1,100 


85  History  of  De  Witt  County,  214-215. 

™IUd.,  151. 

57  /bid.,  287. 

88  Seventh  Census  (1850),  706. 

59  Of  two  hundred  and  sixty  settlers  who  came  to  De  Witt  county  before  1850, 
ninety-five  came  from  Ohio,  thirty-eight  from  Kentucky,  thirty  from  other  parts 
of  Illinois,  twenty-two  from  New  York,  twenty  from  Indiana,  eighteen  from 
Tennessee  and  seven  from  New  England.  History  of  De  Witt  County,  389. 

80  Norris  and  Gardiner,  IlUnote  Annual  Register  (1847),  105. 

61  Seventh  Census  (1850),  702. 


[166] 


POOLEY SETTLEMENT    OF    ILLINOIS,    1830-50  453 

inhabitants,  had  in  1840,  over  3,000  and  in'  1850  about  4,000.62 
Decatur  was  the  chief  town  but  enjoyed  a  rather  unsteady 
growth.  It  was  begun  in  1825  and  was  still  a  hamlet  in  1836. 
In  spite  of  the  fact  that  from  1836  to  1842  the  state  of  Illinois 
went  through  her  darkest  days,  Decatur  experienced  her  best 
ones  until  after  1850.  During  this  period  the  growth  of  the 
village  was  comparatively  rapid,  owing  to  a  belief  among  the 
people  that  a  railroad  was  soon  to  be  built  through  the  town. 
In  1842  its  population  had  reached  five  hundred,  and  here  the 
decline  set  in  because  of  the  vanishing  hope  concerning  the 
proposed  railroad.63  Through  the  rest  of  our  period  the  town 
was  at  a  standstill  and  to  some  extent  this  seems  true  of  the 
county  as  a  whole,  for  the  gain  of  one  thousand  inhabitants  in 
a  period  of  ten  years  does  not  seem  a  great  deal  for  a  county 
which  was  situated  in  a  rich  agricultural  district  and  no  longer 
on  the  frontier.  From  its  proximity  to  the  Sangamon  country 
and  owing  to  its  early  settlement,  it  seems  probable  that  a  great 
part  of  the  population  was  from  the  southern  states,  having 
followed  up  the  Sangamon  river.64 

McLean  county,  fortunate  in  having  a  liberal  supply  of 
timber  besides  fertile  prairie  land,  was  an  ideal  country  for  new 
settlers.  As  a  result  of  these  advantages  the  county  which  had 
but  ninety-three  families  at  the  time  of  its  organization  in  1830, 
had,  by  the  end  of  the  decade,  over  6,500  settlers,  and  by  1850 
had  reached  the  10,000  mark.65  To  the  natural  advantages 
favoring  McLean  county  there  was  one  drawback  which  was  of 
a  serious  nature,  and  that  was  the  lack  of  a  handy  market. 
Chicago  was  the  market  for  stock,  and  those  farmers  who  had 
produce  to  sell  were  of  necessity  forced  to  carry  it  to  Chicago — 
everything  which  could  walk,  sheep,  hogs,  horses,  cattle,  turkeys 
and  geese,  was  driven.  Occasionally  other  places  served  as 


62  Ibid.,  702. 

63  History  of  Macon  County,  116. 

**  Information  here  is  inadequate.  The  nativities  of  fifty-five  lawyers  and 
judges  have  been  recorded  by  a  local  historian.  Twenty-four  came  from  the 
South  Atlantic  States,  seventeen  from  Kentucky  and  Tennessee,  five  from  the 
Middle  Atlantic  States,  two  from  New  England,  two  from  western  states,  and 
two  were  foreigners.  History  of  Macon  County,  31. 

85  Seventh  Census  (1850),  702. 


[167] 


454  BULLETIN    OF    THE    UNIVERSITY    OF    WISCONSIN 

markets  but  it  seems  to  have  been  a  general  rule  to  trade  at 
Chicago. 

Although  McLean  county  was  considered  as  a  frontier  county 
as  late  as  1840,  yet  it  had  some  settlements  of  importance  before 
this  date.  Big  Grove  had  one  hundred  and  fifty  families,  Dry 
Grove  had  fifty,  Cheney's  Grove  had  twenty-four  and  Bloom- 
ington  had  four  hundred  and  fifty  inhabitants.66  Besides  these, 
there  were  two  or  three  settlements  made  by  colonies  formed  in 
the  East. 

In  1830  a  company  in  Butler  county,  Ohio,  sent  an  agent  to 
Illinois  to  select  and  buy  land  preparatory  to  the  establishment 
of  a  settlement.  The  instructions  were  carried  out  and  in  the 
fall  of  the  year  the  colony,  comprising  five  families  in  all,  set- 
tled in  Dale  township.67 

Five  years  later  another  enterprise  of  the  same  sort  was  be- 
gun, but  on  a  much  larger  scale.  This  time  the  promoters 
were  Rhode  Island  men  and  their  plan  was  to  open  up  the 
western  lands  and  settle  enterprising  farmers,  merchanics  and 
tradesmen  upon  them.  A  charter  was  obtained  from  the  state 
and  a  company  formed  with  a  capital  stock  of  $12,500.  Each 
subscriber  was  to  receive  three  hundred  and  twenty  acres  of 
land  and  four  lots  in  the  village  of  Mount  Hope.  In  1837 
fifteen  families  left  Rhode  Island  and  Massachusetts  and  settled 
upon  their  Illinois  claims.  A  few  houses  were  erected  but 
owing  to  the  panic  of  1837  the  plan  never  succeeded  well  and 
practically  fell  through.  Eight  thousand  acres  of  land  werer 
however,  taken  up  and  entered  by  the  company.68 

A  similar  fate  overtook  the  Hudson  colony  in  the  same  year. 
The  Illinois  Land  Association,  as  it  was  called,  was  organized 
at  Jacksonville  in  February,  1836.  In  the  name  of  one  of  the 
promoters,  nearly  all  the  township  of  Hudson  was  entered. 
The  plan  was  to  get  subscribers  for  the  company  at  two  hun- 
dred and  thirty-five  dollars  per  share.  Each  share  entitled  the 
holder  of  the  certificate  to  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  land 


ce  History  of  McLean  County,  330. 
67  Ibid.,  612. 

w  History  of  McLean  County,  579 ;    Duis,  Good  Old  Times  in  McLean  County , 
736. 

[168] 


POOLEY SETTLEMENT    OF    ILLINOIS,    1830-50  455- 

besides  twenty  acres  of  timber  for  fencing,  building  and  fuel, 
and  also  four  town  lots  in  the  village  of  Hudson  which  was  to- 
be  built  upon  the  company's  land.  Since  the  greater  part  of 
the  timber  land  of  the  county  had  already  been  settled  upon, 
the  agreement  concerning  the  allotment  of  timber  to  each  sub- 
scriber could  not  be  fulfilled  and  some  dissatisfaction  arose 
therefrom,  causing  a  number  to  withdraw.  Twenty  of  the 
stockholders  became  settlers  in  1837  but  the  financial  trouble 
of  that  year  put  an  end  to  the  scheme.  The  settlers  and  pro- 
moters were  from  Hudson,  New  York.69 

Bloomington,  it  was  believed  in  the  early  days,  would  never 
be  a  town  of  any  importance  since  stone,  timber,  coal,  water 
power  and  navigable  waters,  which  were  thought  to  be  neces- 
sities for  a  successful  settlement,  were  not  to  be-  found  in  any 
quantities  near  its  site.  Its  growth,  however,  was  a  steady  one, 
save  only  in  the  period  of  depression  following  1837.  From  a 
village  of  eighty  inhabitants  in  183170  it  increased  to  one  hun- 
dred and  eighty  in  1834  and  four  hundred  and  fifty  by  1836.71 
The  population  had  increased  to  six  hundred  in  1840  in  spite 
of  the  unfavorable  conditions  existing  at  the  time.72  During 
the  next  three  years,  however,  the  little  town  suffered.  Lands 
and  town  lots  became  almost  worthless;  improved  land  could 
be  bought  for  a  dollar  and  a  quarter  an  acre.73  By  1843  every 
merchant  had  been  forced  into  bankruptcy,  money  was  scarce, 
farm  produce  was  well-nigh  worthless,  emigration  began'  among 
those  who  could  get  away  and  immigration  had  practically 
ceased.  Much  property  was  forfeited  because  of  the  inability 
of  the  owners  to  pay  taxes.74  From  this  date  times  improved 
and  the  village  again  began  to  grow.  The  small,  irregular, 
sparsely  settled  town  developed  from  one  of  600  in  1840 
to  one  of  1,600  in  1850,  while  the  precinct  outside  of  the 
town  had  an  additional  1,000  settlers.  Several  other  settle- 
ments in  the  county  had  more  than  seven  hundred  settlers.75 

••4 

88  History  of  McLean  County,  603. 

70  Ibid.,  316. 

71  Duis,  Good  Old,  Times  in  McLean  County,  45. 
78  History  of  McLean  County,  335. 

™Ibid.,  336. 

74  McLean  County  Historical  Society  Publications,  1,  409. 

75 Seventh  Census  (1850),  712. 

[169] 


456  BULLETIN    OF    THE    UNIVERSITY    OF    WISCONSIN 

Most  of  the  early  pioneers  came  from  western  states;  Ohio 
and  Kentucky  sending  the  greatest  numbers.76 

Of  the  northern  counties  of  eastern  Illinois,  Livingston  and 
Iroquois  counties  were  organized  before  1850.  In  Kankakee 
county,  then  a  part  of  "Will  county,  was  a  settlement  of  interest. 
It  was  a  Canadian  community,  established  by  Noel  Vasseur, 
and  for  a  time  it  flourished.  Later,  Americans  came  and  filled 
up  the  surrounding  county,  but  Bourbonnais  as  late  as  1879 
still  preserved  to  a  great  extent  the  customs  and  appearances  of 
a  genuine  Canadian  village.  In  its  best  days  possibly  6,000  or 
7,000  people  lived  there  in  their  quiet  cottages,  grouped  about 
the  church,  college,  and  convent.77  The  census  of  1850  credits 
the  village  with  a  population  over  1,700.78 

"While  Livingston  county  was  still  a  part  of  McLean  county, 
settlements  were  started  in  it  and  by  1832  the  Rook  Creek,  Belle 
Prairie  and  Indian  Grove  settlements  each  had  a  few  pioneers. 
At  Pontiac  and  Amity,  and  in  Oswego  and  Forrest  townships,  a 
few  settlers  grouped  themselves  during  the  next  few  years.79 

Pontiac,  one  of  the  two  important  settlements,  was  located  by 
New  Yorkers  who  erected  their  cabins  at  this  place  in  1833. 
Four  years  later  the  town  was  surveyed,  platted  and  lots  sold 
at  five  dollars  each.  In  1850  a  whole  block  in  the  same  town 
could  be  bought  for  ten  dollars  and  if  it  was  an  unusually  de- 
sirable one  perhaps  twenty  dollars  would  be  required  to  pro- 
cure it.  In  1835  a  few  families  from  Ohio,  Vermont  and  New 
York  joined  those  already  in  Pontiac  and  three  years  later  the 
first  substantial  addition  was  made  in  the  shape  of  a  colony 
of  seventeen  persons  from  New  York.80 

A  decade  later  the  village  presented  the  same  appearance, 
having  experienced  no  growth  whatever.  Half  a  dozen  cabins, 


76  Of  two  hundred  and  sixty  pioneers  who  came  to  McLean  county  before  1850, 
sixty-one  came  from  Kentucky,  sixty  from  Ohio,  thirty  from  Virginia,  four- 
teen from  Pennsylvania,  thirteen  each  from  New  York  and  Tennessee  and  ten 
from  North  Carolina.  Only  thirteen  were  New  Engenders,  eighty-eight  from 
the  other  Atlantic  states,  while  one  hundred  and  fifty  were  from  the  states  west 
of  the  mountains.  Duis,  Good  Old  Times  in  McLean  County,  125-865. 

"  American  Catholic  Quarterly  Review,  4,  598. 

™  Seventh  Census.  (1850),  716. 

79  History  of  Livingston  County,  295-405. 

80  Ibid.,  300-301. 


[170] 


POOLEY SETTLEMENT    OF    ILLINOIS,    1830-50  457 

so  hidden  away  in  the  bushes  as  to  be  almost  invisible,  and  a 
court  house  composed  the  town  of  Pontiac.  So  insignificant 
was  this  county  town  at  this  date  that,  it  is  said,  travelers  some- 
times inquired  of  its  residents  the  distance  to  Pontiac.  Its 
population  in  1849  was  seventy-eight  souls.81 

To  the  township  of  Amity  must  be  accorded  the  honor  of 
being  the  most  important  center  of  population  in  Livingston 
county  prior  to  1850.  Settled  first  in  1833,  its  population  num- 
bered two  hundred  in  1843  and  about  two  hundred  and  fifty 
in  1850.82  Many  of  the  settlers  had  come  from  Ohio  and  were 
decidedly  above  the  class  of  pioneers  generally  found  on  the 
frontier.83 

Besides  these  two  settlements,  but  little  else  existed  until  along 
into  the  fifties,  for  the  true  development  of  the  county  dates 
from  1854,  when  the  Chicago  and  Alton  built  its  line.84  The 
opening  of  the  Illinois  and  Michigan  canal  in  1848  served  to 
bring  some  settlers  from  northern  Ohio  and  Indiana  and 
southern  Michigan,  but  the  number  was  not  large.85  Settle- 
ment had  not  left  the  line  of  the  Vermilion  river  by  1850  and 
even  where  so  closely  grouped  this  ribbon  of  settlement  over 
the  county  did  not  exceed  five  miles  in  width.  Beyond  these 
limits  occasional  settlements  were  found  but  the  largest  ones 
had  but  four  or  five  families  each.86 

Development  in  all  lines  seems  to  have  been  slow.  In  1847 
not  a  store  existed  in  Livingston  county,  the  nearest  approach 
to  such  an  institution  being  a  peddler  who  made  monthly  trips 
from  Ottawa,  supplying  from  his  wagon  the  needs  of  every 
family  in  the  county.  The  mediums  of  exchange  acceptable 
were  feathers,  ginseng  and  deer  skins.87  The  population  in  1850 
was  1,550,88  the  least  of  any  county  in  Illinois. 

The  history  of  settlement  in  Iroquois  county  is  a  repetition  of 
that  of  the  other  prairie  counties.  Scattered  settlements  are 


*lI1)id.,  300-301. 

82 Ibid.,  406-411;  Seventh  Census  (1850),  711. 

83  History  of  Livingston  County,  411. 

84  Historical  Encyclopedia  of  Illinois,  341. 

85  History   of  Livingston   County,    534. 
Mn>M.,  422. 

viMd.,  245. 

«3  Seventh  Census  (1850),  702. 


[171] 


458  BULLETIN    OF    THE    UNIVEKSITY    OF    WISCONSIN 

found  along  several  of  the  wooded  streams.  The  Kickapoo  and 
the  Pottowatomie  Indians  remained  in  the  county  until  the  years 
1836  and  1837  and  while  they  were  friendly  undoubtedly  their 
presence  served  to  retard  settlement,  for  the  Indian  scare  of  1832 
was  still  fresh  in  the  minds  of  the  frontiersmen.89 

Several  colonies  of  some  note  came  during  the  years  1834  and 
1835.  First  to  come  was  a  Pennsylvanian  colony  numbering 
thirty-two  people,  all  of  whom  were  owners  of  considerable 
property.  They  settled  at  Milford,  and  two  years  later  were 
joined  by  a  party  of  Virginians.90  In  1835  a  colony  of  Nor- 
wegians came,  but  in1  selecting  a  spot  for  settlement  this  colony 
was  unfortunate  and  hit  upon  a  place  which  was  unhealthful. 
Sickness  broke  out  among  them  and,  discouraged  by  the  outlook, 
the  entire  colony,  numbering  thirty  people,  left  Beaver  Creek 
in  1837  and  went  to  Wisconsin.91 

One  example  of  a  "paper  town,"  we  find  in  Iroquois  county 
in  1835  during  the  period  of  the  craze  for  speculation  which 
swept  over  the  country  during  the  thirties.  A  company,  known 
as  the  Plato  company,  bought  some  land,  laid  out  a  town  and 
advertised  it  in  New  York  and  Boston  as  "the  head  of  naviga- 
tion on  the  Iroquois"  and  "one  of  the  handsomest  locations  for 
a  city  in  the  world."  Some  lots  were  sold  for  higher  prices 
than  Chicago  lots  commanded  but  the  undertaking  proved  a 
failure.92 

Various  small  settlements  were  made  during  the  decade  but 
the  settlers  clung  closely  to  the  timber  and  remained  there  until 
the  Illinois  Central  Railroad  crossed  the  county.93  The  pio- 
neers came  chiefly  from  Ohio,  Indiana,  and  Kentucky  but  repre- 
sentatives from  Pennsylvania,  Virginia,  Canada  and  Europe 
were  also  present.  The  population  in  1850  had  reached  4,100.°* 

In  1830  the  population  of  the  counties  of  eastern  Illinois 
amounted  to  14,000  souls  ^  in  1850  it  numbered  over  87,500r 


88  Historical  Encyclopedia  of  Illinois,  299. 
80  History  of  Iroquoia  County,  138. 
817ZmZ.,    339. 
827b:cZ.,  3S8. 

83  Settlements   were    located   at    Onarga,    Ash    Grove,    Belmont,    Upper    Spring 
Creels,  Lower  Spring  Creek  and  In  Mlddlefort,  Del  Rey,  Concord,   Iroquois  and 
Stockland  townships.     Ibid.,  209-480 ;  pt.  II,  7-12. 

84  Seventh  Census  (1850),  702. 


[172] 


POOLEY SETTLEMENT    OF    ILLINOIS,    1830-50  459 

which  seems  small  when  the  immense  tract  of  land  over  which 
it  was  scattered  is  thought  of.  Little  of  the  population  was 
urban  for  in  all  this  region  there  were  but  four  settlements 
claiming  more  than  one  thousand  inhabitants,  and  but  nine 
more  having  over  seven  hundred  and  fifty.95 

The  reason  for  the  lack  of  towns  seems1  a  simple  one;  cities 
spring  up  either  where  natural  resources  are  to  be  exploited 
or  where  business  will  naturally  concentrate.  Industry  in 
eastern  Illinois  was  wholly  argicultural  and  the  products  were 
stock  and  grain.  The  great  requirement  was  a  market,  and 
inland  towns  such  as  Bloomington  could  not  furnish  it,  because 
there  were  no  lines  of  transportation,  whereby  the  accumulated 
produce  could  be  transferred  to  another  larger  market  for  dis-  l 
tribution.  Consequently  a  city  could  not  exist  in  this  agricul- 
tural region  save  only  with  an  outlet.  When  the  railroads  wTere 
built  from  Chicago  south  and  southwest,  tapping  this  agricul- 
tural region,  prosperity  was  assured  and  a  market  placed  close 
at  hand  for  the  farmer.  The  produce  buyers  of  the  inland 
towns  no  longer  feared  an  accumulation  of  goods  either  agri- 
cultural or  mercantile.  The  farmer,  able  to  dispose  of  his  pro- 
duce, was  inclined  to  buy  more  merchandise  and  the  dealer 
realized  his  profits.  Business  increased  with  the  increase  of 
markets  for  farm  produce,  which  was  the  work  of  the  railroads. 
The  influence  of  timber  upon  the  location  of  settlement  is 
noticeable  in  this  part  of  the  state.96  Even  in  1850  the  pioneer 
felt  safest  when  reinforced  by  a  friendly  strip  of  timber,  and 
at  this  date  the  process  of  taking  up  the  woodlands  was  still 
under  way.  In  the  southern  and  central  counties  these  timber 
tracts  had  been  wholly  taken  up  and  around  each  patch  of 
timber  was  a  circle  of  cabins  whose  occupants  cultivated  that 
part  of  the  prairie  lying  close  by.  Where  the  well-traveled 
roads,  such  as  the  Hubbard  trace  or  the  National  Road,  crossed 
the  prairie,  there  were  always  found  a  string  of  settlers'  cabins. 
The  filling  up  process  which  was  to  go  on  in  the  spaces  inter- 


M  Bloomington  and  Newton  were  the  largest  towns. 

98  Note  the  location  of  the  county  towns  of  eastern  Illinois.  Effingham,  Dan- 
ville, Charleston,  Shelbyville,  Sullivan,  Decatur,  Montlcello,  Urbana,  Clinton, 
Bloomington,  Pontlac,  Watseka  and  Kankakee,  were  situated  In  the  timber  along 
the  streams. 

[173] 


460  BULLETIN    OF    THE    UNIVERSITY    OF    WISCONSIN 

vening  between  the  timber  settlements  had  thus  begun  but  as 
yet  could  not  be  carried  on  with  any  rapidity  since  transporta- 
tion was  no  easier  than  before.  On  the  northern  frontier  the 
timber  had  not  all  been  claimed  and  here  the  development  of 
settlement  was  not  so  far  advanced  as  farther  south.  Besides 
in  the  northeastern  counties  of  eastern  Illinois  the  swampy 
lands  practically  prohibited  settlement  and  it  was  not  until 
these  swamps  were  drained  that  the  counties  were  settled  with 
any  degree  of  density. 

An  examination  of  the  nativities  of  the  early  pioneers  dis- 
closes a  different  state  of  affairs  than  existed  in  southern  Ill- 
inois or  in  northern  Illinois.  It  differs  from  southern  Illinois 
in  the  fact  that  a  considerable  number  of  settlers  came  from  the 
states  north  of  the  Ohio,  but  west  of  the  mountains.  In  com- 
paring the  population  with  that  of  the  northern  counties  it 
is  found  that  the  percentage  of  settlers  from  New  England  or 
the  Middle  Atlantic  states  is  much  smaller  in  eastern  Illinois 
than  in  the  northern  section  of  the  state.  Here  there  were  no 
great  trunk  lines  of  transportation  to  influence  settlement  and 
since  many  of  the  pioneers  came  from  the  neighboring  states, 
it  seems  reasonable  to  believe  that  the  settlement  of  this  part  of 
Illinois  was  the  result  of  a  natural  movement  of  the  agricul- 
tural classes  such  as  has  taken  place  within  recent  decades  from 
those  states  east  of  the  Mississippi  river  to  Kansas,  Nebraska, 
Minnesota  and  the  Dakotas.  The  impelling  force  was  not  one 
which  caused  whole  communities  to  move,  but  a  force  which 
came  from  the  belief  that  conditions  for  the  accumulation  of 
wealth  were  better  "farther  west."97 


87  Tlie  biographies  of  1,138  early  settlers  in  this  part  of  the  state  have  been 
examined  with  the  following  results ;  two  hundred  and  eighty  came  from  Ohio, 
two  hundred  and  ten  from  Kentucky,  one  hundred  and  six  from  Tennessee, 
eighty  from  Indiana,  eighty  from  other  parts  of  Illinois,  one  hundred  and  sixty 
from  the  southern  states,  eighty  from  the  Middle  Atlantic  states  and  but  a  few 
from  New  England.  Six  hundred  and  seventy-seven  came  from  the  four  western 
states,  Ohio,  Indiana,  Kentucky  and  Tennessee,  and  four  hundred  and  sixty-one- 
from  other  places. 


[174] 


POOLEY SETTLEMENT    OF    ILLINOIS,    1830-50  461 


CHAPTER  IX 


THE  LEAD  REGION 


Long  before  the  rest  of  northern  Illinois  received  any  settlers 
the  lead  district  had  been  explored.  Hennepin's  map  of  1687 
locates  a  mine  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  present  site  of  Galena 
and  it  is  said  that  the  French  traders  at  Peoria  purchased  lead 
from  the  Indians  as  early  as  1690.1  A  map  of  Louisiana  pub- 
lished in  1703  shows  plainly  the  location  of  Dubuque's  mines 
west  of  the  Mississippi  and  alspthe  Gj-alen^  mines.2  Forty  years 
later  a  score  of  miners  eked  a  scanty  existence  here  by  means 
of  surface  mining.3  In  1769  Martin  Duralde  received  a  conces- 
sion of  land  on  Le  Seuer's  River  of  Mines  for  the  purpose  of 
mining4  and  after  a  lapse  of  nearly  twenty  years  Julien  Du- 
buque  appeared  in  the  region  and  began  mining  on  both  sides  of 
the  Mississippi,  working  'diggings'  as  far  east  as  Apple  River.5 

It  soon  became  known  to  the  Americans  that  valuable_lead_ 
mines  existed  in  this  region  and  accordingly  negotiations  were 
entered  into  with  the  Indians  for  the  purchase  of  a  tract  of 
land  fifteen  miles  square,  to  be  located  somewhere  on  the  right 
bank  of  the  Mississippi.  In  1804  the  treaty  was  signed6  and 
Congress  passed  a  law  providing  for  leasing  the  tract  for  terms 
not  to  exceed  five  years.  No  leases  were  made,  however,  until 
1822.7  Now  the  miners  began  to  come  one  by  one,  to  share  in 


1  Thwaites,  Notes  on  Early  Leadmining,  in  Wis.  Hist.  Collections,  13,  272. 

2  Ibid.,  274. 
»/&»</.,   276. 
*Ibid.,  278. 

6  Ibid.,  280. 

8  Davidson  and  Stuve,  Illinois,  346. 

7  Washburne,  Lead  Region  and  Lead  Trade  of  the  Upper  Mississippi  in  Hunt's 
Merchant's  Magazine,  18,  288. 


[175] 


462  BULLETIN    OF    THE    UNIVERSITY    OF    WISCONSIN 

the  industry  which  the  Indians  carried  on  to  the  best  of  their 
ability.8  In  1816  the  first  boat  load  of  lead — seventy  tons — was 
sent  down  the  river.9  Col.  Davenport,  of  Rock  Island,  an  agent 
for  the  American  Fur  Company,  established  a  trading  post  at 
Portage  near  the  mouth  of  Fever  river.10 

Even  now  the  United  States  government  had  not  convinced 
itself  of  the  exact  location  of  the  mines,  for  in  the  treaty  con- 
cluded with  the  Indians,  August  24,  1816  at  St.  Louis,  when  all 
lands  lying  north  of  a  line  drawn  due  west  from  the  southern 
extremity  of  Lake  Michigan  to  the  Mississippi  River  were  con- 
ceded to  the  Indians,  a  reservation  of  five  leagues  square  on  the 
same  river  was  made  by  the  treaty.  This  reservation  was  to  be 
designated  at  some  later  time  by  the  President  and  it  seems 
•evident  that  the  sole  object  of  this  reservation  was  to  obtain 
control  of  the  lead  mines  whenever  their  location  could  be  defi- 
nitely determined.11 

The  exact  date  of  the  first  permanent  settlement  by  whites 
in  this  region  is  not  known.  Boutilier,12  Shull  and  Muir  were 
probably  here  before  1820  and  tradition  has  it  that  a  man  named 
January  had  for  some  years  previous  conducted  a  trading  post 
at  the  mines.13  In  1819  an  expedition  consisting  of  six  or  eight 
boats  carrying  possibly  one  hundred  men  left  St.  Louis  under 
the  command  of  Col.  R.  M.  Johnson  bound  for  Fever  river. 
After  a  slow  trip  of  twenty  days  it  reached  Galena  and  the 
business  of  making  a  treaty  with  the  Indians  was  accomplished 
after  a  parley  of  nine  days.  This  negotiation  concluded,  "the 
mines  were  then  for  the  first  time  opened  for  civilized  enter- 
prise. '  '14 

For  three  years  little  or  no  addition  was  made  to  the  settle- 
ment. Estimates  of  the  size  of  the  settlement  vary15  probably 


8  Thwaites,  Notes  on  Early  Leadmining,  in  Wis.  Hist.  Collections,  13,  285. 
o  Personal  Recollections  of  Col.  John  Shaw,  in  Wis.  Hist.  Collections,  2,  228. 

0  History  of  Jo  Davies's  County,  233. 

1  Thwaites,  Notes  on  Early  Leadmining,  in  Wis.  Hist.  Collections,  13,  286. 

2  Davidson  and  Stuve,  Illinois,  346. 

3  History  of  Jo  Daviess  County,  231. 

4  Bonner,  Life  and  Adventures  of  Beckwourth,  20. 

5  Tenny,  Early  Times  in  Wisconsin,  in  Wis.  Hist.  Collections,  1,  95,  says  there 
were  but  two  cabins  at  the  mines;   the  author  of  The  Htetory  of  Jo  Daviess 
County  (228),  gives  the  number  of  cabins  as  ten  or  twelve. 

[176] 


POOLEY SETTLEMENT    OF    ILLINOIS,    1830-50  463 

owing  to  the  instability  of  the  mining  population;  but  with  the 
arrival  of  Col.  Johnson  'with  his  band  of  slaves10  the  rapid 
growth  of  population  in  the  region  begins.  The  first  steam- 
boat came  up  the  Fever  river  in  this  year  and  the  shipment  of 
lead  in  considerable  quantities  began.  With  the  increase  of 
this  product,  the  increase  of  population  advanced.17  During  the 
years  1821,  1822  and  1823  an  aggregate  of  335,000  pounds  was 
shipped  from  here;  by  1827  it  had  increased  to  over  5,000,000 
pounds  and  by  1829  to  13,344,150  pounds.18  which  appears  to 
have  been  the  high  water  mark  of  export. 

In  1824  two  events  of  considerable  importance  happened; 
the  establishment  of  a  store  in  the  village19  and  the  arrival  of 
the  first  colony  of  settlers.  Up  to  this  time  the  settlers  were 
entirely  dependent  upon  the  supplies  which  they  brought  with 
them  or  upon  those  brought  by  the  boats  which  occasionally 
came  to  the  mines.  The  building  of  a  store  shifted  a  responsi- 
bility which,  in  all  pioneer  communities,  was  one  of  great  weight 
and  especially  so  in  the  case  of  the  miners  whose  nearest  neigh- 
bors at  this  time  were  at  Peoria  on  the  Illinois  river.  The 
colony  hailed  from  Cincinnati  and  consisted  of  forty-three 
people  under  the  leadership  of  Dr.  Meeker.20  The  voyage  from 
Cincinnati  had  consumed  sixty  days  but  this  was  considered 
good  time  for  a  keel-boat.  Upon  their  arrival  they  found  a 
settlement  of  about  one  hundred  miners.21 

Immigration  now  flowed  in  rapidly  and  the  fifteen  mile 
boundary  prescribed  by  the  treaty  of  1816  was  overstepped. 
Here  and  there  in  the  surrounding  country,  at  Shullsburg, 
East  Fork  and  New  Diggings,  were  grouped  little  mining 
camps,22  and  when  the  season  opened  in  1826  nearly  two  hundred 
men  were  digging  in  the  vicinity  of  Galena.23  The  number  in- 


18  Johnson  brought  between  one  hundred  and  one  hundred  and  fifty  slaves  with 
him.      (History  of  Jo  Daviess  County,  243.) 
"  Chicago  Evening  Post,  Sept.  5,  1896. 

18  Illinois  and  her  Resources,  In  Hunt's  Merchants'  Magazine,  5,  434. 

19  Galena  and  its  Leadmines,  in  Harper's  Magazine,  32,  692. 

20  History  of  Jo  Daviess  County,  238j:  Meeker,  Early  History  of  the  Lead  Re- 
gion of  Wisconsin,  in  Wis.  Hist.  Collections,  6,  276. 

21  History  of  Jo  Daviess  County,  242. 

22  Davidson  and  Stuvd,  Illinois,  346. 

*•*  House  Executive  Documents,  19  Congress,  1  Sess.,  2,  7. 


12  [  177  ] 


464  BULLETIN    OF    THE    UNIVERSITY    OF    WISCONSIN 

creased  to  over  four  hundred  in  June2*  and  by  the  coming  fall 
five  hundred  and  fifty  were  there.25  In  the  whole  region  it  was 
estimated  that  nearly  sixteen  hundred  men  were  at  work  by 
this  time.26  Fever  River  post  office,  of  Crawford  county,  Ill- 
inois was  established  in  182627  and  the  mail  came  from  Vandalia 
once  every  two  weeks.28  Fever  River  voting  precinct,  contain- 
ing all  the  voters  in  the  mining  region  as  far  north  as  Michigan, 
was  also  established  in  the  same  year,29  and  at  the  first  election 
two  hundred  and  two  votes  were  cast.30  The  tax  collector  for 
this  settlement  resided  at  Peoria  and  for  a  time  could  do  no 
more  towards  the  completion  of  his  task  than  to  record  the 
names  of  the  tax  payers  for  the  miners  openly  defied  him  and 
refused  to  pay  taxes.31 

Although  Kellog's  trail  and  Bolle's  trail  were  the  great  lines 
of  communication  with  the  interior  of  the  state,  the  most  in- 
teresting accession  to  the  population  of  the  mining  district  came 
from  the  north.  In  the  year  1821  Lord ^  Selkirk's  Swiss  colony 
had  come  to  America  and  settled  in  the  far-away  valley  of  the 
Red  River  of  the  North.  For  a  period  of  five  years  they  ex- 
perienced many  hardships,  and  becoming  dissatisfied  with  their 
lot,  a  part  left  for  the  South,  settling  in  St.  Louis,  still  another 
part  came  to  Galena  in  the  autumn  of  1826  and  being  financially 
well-to-do  these  new  arrivals  proved  welcome  additions  to  the 
settlement.32 

The  fame  of  the  lead  mines  spread  abroad  and  the  year  1827 
saw  a  noticeable  increase  in  the  numbers  of  immigrants.  House 
after  house  was  built  and  in  place  of  the  twenty  cabins  reported 
by  the  mayor  of  Galena  in  1826,33  with  their  five  hundred  and 
fifty  inhabitants,  there  were  now  more  than  one  hundred  houses 
and  stores,34  and  between  6,000,  and  7,000  people  residing  w 


**  IUd. 

26  History  of  Jo  Daviess   County,  265. 
16  Davidson  and  Stuv£,  Illinois,  346. 

27  History  of  Jo  Daviess  County,  246. 
^Davidson  and  Stuvg,  Illinois,  346. 

29  History  of  Jo  Daviess  County,  247. 

30  History  of  Ogle  County,  249. 
31 IUd. 

82  Chetlain,  Recollections  of  Seventy  Years,  6. 

33  Niles'  Register,  «3,  388. 

34  History  of  Jo  Daviess  County,  253. 

[178] 


POOLEY SETTLEMENT    OF    ILLINOIS,    1830-50  465 

the  district.35  The  population  at  this  date  was  also  becoming 
more  stable.  Americans,  Irish  and  French  predominated,  al- 
though in  182736  there  came  the  first  representative  of  a  nation- 
ality which  was  soon  to  form  an  important  element  in  the  min- 
ing country.  The  new-comer  was  a  Cornishman  and,  having 
emigrated  from  the  lead  mining  region  of  England,  naturally 
sought  out  that  portion  of  the  United  States  where  he  could  to 
the  best  advantage  pursue  his  vocation.  From  1830  to  1850 
the  Cornish  population  in  this  region  increased  rapidly.37 

Through  the  unwise  action  of  some  of  the  miners  the  Winne- 
bago  war38  broke  out  in  1827  and  although  the  consequences 
were  not  serious  much  inconvenience  was  experienced  by  those 
miners  living  at  some  distance  from  Galena.  All  operations 
ceased  at  the  first  alarm  and  the  miners  hurried  to  the  settle- 
ment where  they  were  compelled  to  remain  for  some  time  ex- 
periencing actual  hardships  owing  to  inclement  weather,  scar- 
city of  provisions  and  the  limited  accommodations  for  housing 
the  additional  population.  The  trouble  with  the  Indians  once 
over  the  miners  again  scattered  over  the  country. 

In  the  same  year  Jo  Daviess  county  was  organized  and  the  town 
of  Galena  surveyed  and  divided  into  lots.  No  title  was  given 
to  those  occupying  the  lots  and  moreover  it  was  provided  that 
upon  thirty  days  notice  lots  were  to  be  vacated  by  the  settlers 
no  matter  how  much  improvement  had  been  made  upon  them.3* 
Titles  were,  however,  given  in  1838.  Although  organized  as  a 
county  of  Illinois  the  people  were  not  enthusiastic  about  be- 
coming a  part  of  the  state,  preferring  rather  to  be  part  of  a 
new  state.  In  1828,  accordingly,  a  petition  signed  by  the  resi- 
dents of  this  region  was  sent  to  Congress,  praying  that  the 
territory  north  of  the  line  of  1787  be  organized  into  a  new 
territory,  the  seat  of  government  being  at  Galena.40  Nothing 


85  Ford,  Illinois,   67. 
36  History  of  Jo  Daviess  County,  253. 

87  Copeland,    Cornish  in  Southwestern   Wisconsin,   in   Wls.    Hist.    Collections, 
14,  305. 

38  McLaughlin,  Lewis  Cans,  124  ;  Edwards,  Illinois,  218. 

39  Davidson  and  Stuve\  Illinois,  346. 

40  The  line  connected   the  southern  point  of  Lake  Michigan  with  a  point  on 
the  Mississippi   River  directly  to  the  west.     The  Galena  settlement  was  north 
of  the  line.     At  the  admission  of  the  state,   the  boundary   was   made  42°    30' 
(Sanford,  State  Sovereignty  in  Wisconsin,  in  Am.  Hist.  Assn.  Reports    (1891),. 
177-193).    For  the  petition  see  House  Document  35,  20  Cong.,  2  Sess.  2. 

[179] 


466 

was  done  in  the  matter  till  in  the  forties  when  another  attempt 
was  made  by  the  northern  counties  to_  .s^parate^Jj^m^_thel_rest 
of  the  state.  At  this  time  the  boundary  question  was  settled 
.at  the  present  line. 

Year  by  year  the  population  of  the  lead  region  grew  and 
with  it  grew  the  importance  of  Galena,  its  market  place  and  its 
base  of  supplies.  In  1830  the  town  had  some  nine  hundred 
inhabitants,41  ' '  a  most  singular  and  mysterious  medley  of  people 
from  all  quarters  of  the  earth"  seeking  wealth.  Illinois 
settlers  predominated,  although  there  were  probably  representa- 
tives from  every  state  in  the  union.42  Of  the  foreign  popula- 
tion, the  Irish  seem  to  have  been  most  in  evidence.43  In  1832 
one  writer  estimates  the  population  of  the  village  at  six  hundred 
and  sixty-nine  people,  there  being  some  two  hundred  dwelling 
houses,  warehouses  and  shops.44  Another  places  the  number 
at  between  1,000  and  1,500,45  while  the  Galena  correspondent 
for  the  Baltimore  American  stated  that  "the  town  contained  a 
population  of  5,000  to  7,000  inhabitants."46  Of  these  estimates 
probably  the  first  is  the  most  reliable  as  it  is  the  most  conserv- 
ative and  is  given  by  a  resident  of  the  town.  Allowing  for 
the  rapid  increase  of  the  summer  the  second  estimate  may  prob- 
ably be  correct  also,  but  the  third  one,  published  by  Niles'  Reg- 
ister is  much  too  high  and  possibly  refers  to  the  entire  district, 
the  population  of  which  had  already  been  estimated  at  10,000 
souls.47  "It  was  a  lively  little  town  giving  promise  of  great 
things  in  the  future. '  '48  A  considerable  number  of  stores  had  been 
established,  groceries  abounded,  a  dozen  lawyers  and  four  or 
five  physicians  were  located  there.  The  Methodists,  Presbyter- 
ians and  Roman  Catholics  represented  the  religious  sects,  each 
having  established  congregations.49 

The  story  of  the  settlement  of  the  lead  region  has  practically 


"Nile?  Register,  O3,  388. 

"Reynolds,  Illinois,  168. 

«  /bid. 

"  Milters'  Journal   (Galena,  Ills.),  May  9,  1832. 

45  Thwaltes,  Narrative  of  Morgan  L.  Martin,  in  Wis.  Hist.  Collections,  11,  398. 

46  Niles1  Register,  34,  344. 

47  Miners'  Journal,  May  9,  1832. 

48  o.u.waites,  Narrative  of  Morgan  L.  Martin,  in  Wis.  Hist.  Collections,  11,  398. 
*»Atwater's,  Writings,  238. 

[180] 


POOLEY SETTLEMENT    OF    ILLINOIS,    1830-50  467 

been  told  in  the  development  of  Galena.  The  succeeding  years 
are  but  repetitions  of  the  earlier  ones  with  this  exception — the 
field  widened  and  soon  the  surrounding  region  for  miles  was 
dotted  with  small  mining  camps  and  trading  posts.50  The  occu- 
pation was,  however,  interrupted,  for  the  Black  Hawk  War 
broke  out  in  1832  and  again  the  miners  hurried  to  Galena 
asking  protection  from  the  Indians.  The  battle  of  the  Bad  Axe, 
in  August,  1832,  broke  forever  the  power  of  the  Sac  and  Fox 
Indians  and  when  by  the  treaty  closing  the  war  the  remnants 
of  the  once  powerful  tribes  were  removed  beyond  the  Missis- 
sippi, the  miners  'were  at  last  allowed  to  carry  on  their  work 
in  safety.51 

With  the  close  of  the  war,  growth  again  began  and  the 
"wonderful  mixture  of  humanity"52  gathered  new  ingredients, 
for  men  of  all  nations  and  stations  covered  the  "whole  earth, 
north,  east  and  south  of  Galena  .  .  .  prospecting,  digging 
and  looking  for  lead  ore."53  At  Berreman,  Vinegar  Hill, 
Hanover,  Council  Hill,  Elizabeth,  Rush,  Apple  River  and  Scales 
Mound,  settlements  formed  varying  in  size  but  generally  small, 
consisting  of  from  three  to  a  dozen  miners  each.54  Of  these 
Elizabeth,  on  the  Apple  River,  was  most  important  and  had  in 
1832  a  population  of  forty-five.  Before  1840  the  village  was 
laid  out  and  there  were  a  school,  a  grist  mill  and  a  sawmill  in 
operation.55 

Slowly  indeed  Galena  lost  the  characteristics  of  a  frontier 
town  since  the  industry  from  which  it  drew  its  life  tended  to 
keep  the  population  unstable  and  operated  against  the  advance- 
ment of  varied  industries.  However,  in  the  closing  years  of  the 
decade  from  1831  to  1840  it  was  described  as  a  town  of  1,800 
inhabitants  and  as  having  all  the  appearance  of  an  old  city,  but 
deficient  in  cleanliness  and  comfort.56  In  addition  to  the 
churches  already  established  an  Episcopal  parish  was  organized 


s,  Story  of  the  Black  Hawk  War,  in  Wis.  Hist.  Collections,  12,  228. 
M  Stevens,  Black  Hawk  War,  221-225. 
62  Murray,  Travels  in  North  America,  2,  129. 
B3  Reynolds,  Illinois,  169. 
84  History  of  Jo  Daviess  County,  555-608. 
BS  History  of  Jo  Daviess   County,  586. 
K  Niles'  Register,  63,  388. 

[181] 


468  BULLETIN    OF    THE    UNIVERSITY    OF    WISCONSIN 

and  a  chapel  erected  in  1838.57  A  temperance  society  had  been 
organized;58  newspapers  had  from  time  to  time  been  published, 
but  owing  to  difficulties  had  died  out  until  the  establishment  of 
The  Northwestern  Gazette  and  Galena  Advertiser  in  Novem- 
ber, 1834 59  which  has  continued  to  the  present  time;  a  Library 
Association  had  been  formed  supporting  a  library  of  over  eight 
hundred  volumes  ;60  there  was  a  fire  department,61  and  a  branch 
of  the  State  Bank  of  Illinois.62  Balls63  and  theatres64  furnished 
amusement  for  the  people,  although  accommodations  for  such 
gatherings  were  limited.  Such  was  the  'Leadmine  City'  when 
it  was  incorporated  by  Act  of  the  State  Legislature  in  Febru- 
ary, 1839.65 

By  1840  the  population  had  increased  to  3,000  and  there 
were  in  the  city  five  hundred  and  fifty  buildings,  the  rateable 
property  being  estimated  at  from  $1,600,000  to  $l,700,000.6e 
The  bustle  of  business  caused  many  an  observer  to  prophesy  a 
brilliant  future  for  the  town  for  it  was  then  the  distributing 
point  for  northwestern  Illinois,  as  well  as  for  southwestern 
Wisconsin.  To  its  inhabitants  and  to  those  of  the  surrounding 
country  it  seemed  destined  to  become  "the  largest  and  most 
flourishing  city  of  the  West,  north  of  St.  Louis. '  '67  Its  location 
was  peculiar;  crowded  together  at  the  base  of  the  bluffs,  to  a 
visitor  it  presented  a  singular  appearance.  Its  compactness 
coupled  with  the  instability  of  its  population  caused  the  elec- 
tion officials  occasional  embarrassment  for,  as  N lies'  Register 
stated,  "the  inhabitants  shift  about  so  from  place  to  place  and 
so  many  of  them  dwell  in  the  holes  and  clefts  of  the  rocks  that 
it  is  difficult  to  say  where  they  belong."68 

From  a  commercial  standpoint  Galena  as  the  center  of  the 


57  History  of  Jo  Daviess   County,  504. 

K  Miners'  Journal,  May  9,  1832. 

69  History  of  Jo  Daviess   County,  433. 

«°  Ibid.,  476. 

"IWd.,  458. 

«  IUd.,  475. 

KIMd.,  254. 

84  A  Winter  in  the  West,  2,  50. 

65  Galena  and  its  Leadinines,  in  Harper\s  Magazine,  32,  693. 

68  Senate  Document,  349,  26  Congress,  1  Sess.,  6. 

97  Madison  Express,  Feb.  1,  1840. 

«  Niles'  Register,  65,  171. 


[182] 


POOLEY SETTLEMENT    OF    ILLINOIS,    1830-50  469 

mining  region  gained  in  importance  during  the  decade.  In 
spite  of  adverse  tariff  legislation  and  the  unsatisfactory  govern- 
mental administration  of  the  mining  lands,  the  industry  in- 
creased, until  1847,  when  owing  to  the  closing  down  of  furnaces 
on  account  of  the  tariff,69  the  shipments  of  lead  steadily  de- 
creased.70 The  exportation  of  wheat  began71  and  although 
nothing  is  stated  concerning  other  farm  produce  it  is  not  improb- 
able that  since  this  city  was  the  most  convenient  trading  post 
of  the  region,  the  agricultural  class  looked  to  it  as  a  market 
for  their  products.  The  amount  of  exports  was  greater  than 
that  of  any  town  on  the  Mississippi  above  St.  Louis,  amounting 
to  about  $2,500,000  in  1846.72  Steamboats  in  great  numbers 
plied  from  this  port  down  the  Mississippi;  in  1840  there  were 
three  hundred  arrivals  and  departures;73  in  1846  there  was  a 
still  greater  number.74  Thirty  thousand  families  were  depend- 
ent upon  Galena  for  their  supplies  of  merchandise.75  The  pop- 
ulation of  the  city  itself  was  reported  to  be  5,500.76 

In  1846  a  radical  change  was  made  by  the  government  in  the 
administration  of  its  mineral  lands,  which  operated  for  the  good 
of  those  occupying  claims  upon  such  lands.  After  the  acqui- 
sition of  this  portion  of  the  country  by  the  treaty  of  1804,  Con- 
gress had  passed  a  law  reserving  several  of  the  lead  mines  from 
sale  and  authorizing  the  President  to  lease  such  mines.  At  that 
time  the  superintendence  of  the  mines  was  one  of  the  duties 
of  the  treasury  department,  but  in  1821  was  transferred  to  the 
war  department  which  made  the  first  leases  in  1822.  This  sys- 
tem which  was  practically  beyond  the  control  of  law,  and  sub- 
ject only  to  the  will  of  the  secretary  of  war  was  productive  of 
evils.  Special  agents,  attorneys  and  others  were  finally 
entrusted  with  the  duties  of  granting  leases  and  collecting  the 
rents.  Favoritism  and  possibly  worse  things  resulted.  In  1835 


89  Madison  Express,   Sept.  8,    1846;    Weekly  Northwestern   Gazette,    Aug.     IS, 
1846. 

70  Western  Journal  and  Civilian,  March,  1S52,  309. 
»  files'  Register,  CO,  304. 

72  Hall,  The  Wast  (1848),  102. 

73  Files'  Register,  «O,  388. 

74  Hall,  The  West  (1848)   102. 

75  Galena  Jeffcrsonian,  Oct.  31,  1S45. 

76  Ibid. 

[183] 


470  BULLETIN    OF    THE    TJNIVEBSITY    OF    WISCONSIN 

the  system  was  for  the  time  abandoned  but  was  again  revived 
in  1841  and  the  efforts  made  by  occupants  to  obtain  possession 
of  their  claims  failed,  owing  to  the  exaggerated  idea  prevalent 
among  the  government  officials  at  Washington  concerning  the 
mineral  wealth  of  the  region.  In  his  report  of  1845,  Judge 
Shields,  who  was  commissioner  of  the  General  Land  Office,  ex- 
posed the  defects  of  the  system  and  urged  the  sale  of  the  min- 
eral lands.  As  a  result  the  Senate  took  hold  of  the  question  and 
in  July,  1846,  a  law  was  passed  directing  the  President  to 
sell  such  mineral  lands  as  were  reserved  in  Illinois,  Wisconsin 
and  Iowa.  Accordingly  they  were  sold  the  next  year  and  the 
squatters  who  had  heretofore  held  but  little  right  to  their  land 
now  came  into  full  possession  of  it.77 

Throughout  the  country  few  settlements  had  been  made  which 
were  of  any  importance,  save  only  those  which  were  mining 
camps.  Apple  River,  which  in  1832  had  a  few  stragglers,  had 
in  1845  some  two  hundred  men  all  of  whom  were  engaged  in 
mining.78  Council  Hill,  a  few  miles  to  the  east  from  Galena, 
had  at  the  close  of  the  decade  three  hundred  settlers,  most  of 
whom  were  English.79  Some  agricultural  settlers  had  congre- 
gated on  the  Old  Sucker  trail  near  the  present  village  of  Scales 
Mound80  and  Warren,  Nora  and  Dunlieth  (now  East  Dubuque) 
had  each  a  few  scattered  settlers  drawn  from  New  York,  Ten- 
nessee, Ohio  and  from  foreign  countries.81  These  settlements, 
however,  amounted  to  nothing  until  the  Illinois  Central  road 
pushed  its  way  across  the  state  during  the  succeeding  decade. 
Millville,  laid  off  in  1846,  contained  a  dry  goods  store,  a  black- 
smith shop  and  a  tavern ;  this  made  it  for  several  years  the  most 
important  village  between  Freeport  and  Galena.82  At  the  close 
of  the  period  18,600  people  lived  in  Jo  Daviess  county,83  and 
since  there  were  at  this  time  60,000  acres  of  land  under  culti- 


77  Washburne,  Lead  Region  and  Lead  Trade  of  the  Upper  Mississippi,  In  Hunt's 
Merchant's  Magazine,  18,  288. 
™New  York  Weekly  Tribune,  April  12,  1845. 
'"Guide  to  Illinois  Central  Rail  Road  Lands,  (1861),  56. 
80  History  of  Jo  Daviess  County,  555. 
slIMd.,  542-558. 
**IUd.,  578. 
KIUd.,  216. 

[184] 


POOLEY SETTLEMENT    OF    ILLINOIS,    1830-50  471 

vation,  we  may  believe  that  the  agricultural  as  well  as  the  min- 
eral resources  of  the  region  were  being  developed.84 

Carroll  county  joins  Jo  Daviess  county  on  the  south  and, 
in  a  way,  its  settlement  is  connected  with  the  expansion  of  the 
lead  region.  Ten  years  after  the  whites  settled  on  Fever  River 
the  first  settlers  came  to  Carroll  county.  Three  families  estab- 
lished themselves  on  the  present  site  of  Savanna  in  1828.85  Set- 
tlement developed  slowly  before  the  Black  Hawk  War,  but  after 
the  war  settlers  came  a  little  more  regularly.  By  1837,  per- 
haps, Savanna,  which  was  yet  the  only  town  of  any  importance 
between  Rock  Island  and  Galena,  began  to  enjoy  a  period  of 
comfortable  prosperity.  It  became  the  shipping  point  for  hun- 
dreds of  pioneers  of  the  middle  and  upper  Rock  river  country, 
since  it  was  easier  to  reach  than  Galena.  From  as  far  up  the 
Rock  river  as  Rockford  and  Freeport  the  pioneers  came  with 
their  farm  products  and  returned  with  merchandise  and  lumber.86 
In  1839  Savanna  was  chosen  as  the  county  seat.  The  fact  that 
two  hundred  and  twelve  votes  were  cast  at  the  election87  shows 
that  the  growth  during  the  period  of  the  preceding  ten  years 
had  not  been  excessively  rapid. 

Through  four  years  Savanna  enjoyed  the  distinction  of  being 
the  county  seat  of  Carroll ;  at  the  end  of  this  time  another  town 
more  centrally  located  took  that  position.  In  1837  a  Virginian 
had  located  where  Mt.  Carroll  now  stands  and  laid  out  a  town 
called  Richmond.  Offering  liberal  inducements  to  settlers  he 
secured  a  few,  but  the  financial  troubles  of  1837  killed  the  en- 
terprise.88 Before  the  close  of  the  year,  however,  a  mill  com- 
pany located  its  buildings  at  Richmond.  Being  the  scene  of 
improvements  it  naturally  attracted  settlers,  who,  increasing 
in  number,  made  vigorous  efforts  to  bring  their  town  to  a  place 
where  it  would  be  a  rival  of  Savanna.  Savanna  had  failed  to 
comply  with  the  provisions  of  the  county  organizing  act,  so 
when  Mt.  Carroll  made  an  attempt  to  become  the  seat  of  county 


84  Peyton,  Statistical  View  of  Illinois,  13. 

85  History  of  Cai-roll  County,  222. 
MIMd.,  359. 

"/bid.,  229. 
254. 


[185] 


472  BULLETIN    OF    THE    TJNTVEESITY    OF    WISCONSIN 

government,  it  was  successful.89  Steadily  the  settlements  grew 
and  smaller  ones  sprang  up  at  places  of  vantage.  In  the  course 
of  a  few  years  Elkhorn  Grove,  Wysox,  Lanark  and  Salem  set- 
tlements were  added.  The  towns  were  small,  however,  and  in 
1850  the  combined  population  in  the  county  did  not  number 
5,000  people.90 

The  settlement  of  the  lead  region  cannot  be  taken  as  typical 
of  the  westward  expansion.  Exceptional  conditions  to  a  re- 
markable extent  influenced  the  settlement,  and  transporta- 
tion facilities  combined  with  a  concentrated  resource  brought 
out  frontier  characteristics.  The  life  of  the  settlement  in 
the  earlier  days  depended  entirely  upon  the  success  of 
mining  ventures  and  during  this  period,  Galena,  the  centre 
of  population,  may  be  said  to  have  had  all  the  characteristics  of 
a  frontier  mining  town.  On  every  frontier,  it  is  true,  we  find 
a  mixture  of  peoples  but  in  the  lead  region  this  mixture  is  found 
in1  a  peculiarly  marked  degree.  Foreigners  from  all  portions 
of  the  world  and  Americans  from  every  state  of  the  Union  were 
here  thrown  together  indiscriminately.  For  the  few  bonds  of 
sympathy  which  would  naturally  exist  in  such  a  community,  the 
miners  got  along  well  together.  Some  were,  perhaps,  inclined 
to  vote  before  they  were  legally  entitled  to  the  privilege;  others 
openly  opposed  the  tax  collector.  Some  were  men  of  question- 
able character  and  nearly  all  were  adventurers,  but  in  spite  of 
these  characteristics  it  is  a  noticeable  thing  that  little  "claim 
jumping"  was  indulged  in,  few  infringements  made  upon  law 
and  above  all  there  seemed  to  exist  among  this  people  a  thorough 
trust  and  goodwill  for  every  one.  The  only  laws  at  first  gov- 
erning this  portion  of  the  state  were  contained  on  a  single  sheet 
of  foolscap  paper,  signed  by  the  superintendents  of  the  mines 
and  posted  up  in  the  most  public  places.  They  dealt  with  the 
settlement  of  disputes  over  mining  claims;  but  as  for  ordinary 
business  transactions  such  as  credits,  the  people  were  to  settle 
these  among  themselves,  entirely  on  the  law  of  honor.91  In 
spite  of  this  lax  code  of  laws,  seldom  indeed  did  a  miner  fail 


»9/b«.,  243. 

•o  Seventh  Census   (1850),  704. 

81  History  of  Jo  Dariess  County,  348. 


[186] 


POOLEY SETTLEMENT    OF    ILLINOIS,    1830-50  473 

to  meet  his  obligations  and  debts  were  freely  contracted  and 
honestly  paid;  unruly  characters  were  speedily  and  perhaps 
often  roughly  expelled  from  the  town.  On  the  whole  the  com- 
munity seems  to  have  been  a  law-abiding  one,  even  if  the  law 
adhered  to  was  the  simple  law  of  the  frontier.  As  late  as  the 
thirties,  we  are  told,  there  was  little  or  no  use  for  a  jail,  for  dur- 
ing a  period  of  three  years  but  one  criminal /had  occupied  it  and 
he  but  for  a  week.92 

The  change  of  Galena  from  a  frontier  settlement  to  a  city 
came  when  the  development  of  the  agricultural  resources  re- 
sulted in  a  yearly  surplus  which  demanded  a  market,  as  did 
the  products  of  the  mines.  Physiographic  influences  now  be- 
came of  greater  moment.  The  concentrated  mineral  resource 
was  in  itself  cause  enough  for  the  establishment  of  the  city.  To 
this  was  added  the  influence  of  the  surrounding  agricultural 
country  which  was  developed  by  those  who  failed  to  find  wealth 
in  the  mines.  Lack  of  railroad  communication  made  water 
communication  all  the  more  important,  and  Galena,  situated 
conveniently  upon  the  great  water  route  to  the  southern  markets 
became  the  collecting  point  for  agricultural  products  for  the 
markets  of  the  South,  as  well  as  the  distributing  point  for  sup- 
plies brought  up  the  river.  "With  the  increase  of  the  settled 
area  of  the  back  country  the  importance  of  the  city  increased, 
and  so  it  continued  until  the  Illinois  Central  railroad  pene- 
trated the  sphere  of  influence  of  Galena  and  drained  the  trade 
of  the  farming  district  towards  the  great  lake  port  of  Chicago. 

Another  characteristic  in  the  lead  district  needs  mention — the 
population.  It  has  been  noted  that  foreigners  formed  a  con- 
siderable part  of  the  population,  but  there  was  also  a  southern 
element  present  in  large  numbers  and  southern  sentiment  was 
for  years  strong  in  the  community.  To  the  mines  may  be 
traced  the  cause  for  the  foreign  population,  but  to  the  line  of 
communication  we  must  attribute  the  presence  of  the  south- 
ern people.  The  Mississippi  river  was  the  thread  of  con- 
nection between  this  region  and  the  outside  world.  To  the 
east  and  the  southeast  especially  before  1837  there  was 
nothing  save  the  prairie.  Peoria  far  to  the  south  (one  hundred 


92  Miner's  Journal,  May  9,  1832. 

[187] 


474  BULLETIN    OF    THE    UNIVERSITY    OF    WISCONSIN 

and  seventy  miles)  was  the  only  neighbor  during  the  early 
days,  consequently  there  existed  little  or  no  tie  between  Galena 
and  the  rest  of  Illinois.  Before  the  prairies  of  the  north  were 
settled,  a  decidedly  southern  aspect  had  been  assumed  by  the 
city  and  it  was  to  remain  so  for  many  years.  This  characteris- 
tic, it  seems,  goes  to  show  the  influence  which  transportation 
routes  have  upon  newly  settled  countries.  Wherever  a  compara- 
tively good  line  of  communication  leads  through  a  locality  in 
which  a  tendency  to  emigrate  exists,  it  is  natural  for  those  emi- 
grating to  follow  this  line  of  travel.  An  examination  of  the 
nativities  of  settlers  residing  along  the  line  in  the  newer  country 
will  reveal  the  fact  that  a  considerable  number  of  these  settlers 
are  from  the  older  country  bordering  the  same  route  of  travel. 
The  settlement,  development  and  prosperity  of  the  lead  region, 
therefore  are  due  to  a  series  of  causes  in  which  mineral  wealth, 
transportation  facilities  and  agricultural  development  each 
plays  a  part. 


[188] 


POOLEY SETTLEMENT    OF    ILLINOIS,    1830-50  475 


CHAPTER  X 


CHICAGO 


For  a  number  of  years  after  the  war  of  1812  Chicago  grew 
slowly.  In  1818  there  were,  outside  of  the  garrison  enclosure, 
but  two  log  huts  in  the  settlement  and  the  nearest  post  office  was 
at  Ft.  "Wayne,  Indiana,  from  which  the  mail  was  brought  once 
a  month.1  In  1820  when  Schoolcraft  visited  Chicago  he  found 
"a  small  village  of  ten  or  twelve  houses  accommodating  sixty 
people — half-breeds,  Canadian-French  fur-traders  and  Virgin- 
ians."2 

Three  years  later  Majpr_Long  visited  Chicago  and  passed  de- 
cidedly unfavorable  comments  upon  it.  "The  village  presents 
no  cheering  prospect  as,  notwithstanding  its  antiquity,  it  con- 
sists of  but  a  few  huts,  inhabited  by  a  miserable  race  of  men 
scarcely  equal  to  the  Indians  from  whom  they  are  descended. 
Their  houses  are  low,  filthy  and  disgusting,  displaying  not  the 
least  trace  of  comfort.  ...  It  is  not  impossible"  he  added, 
"that  at  some  distant  period  when  the  banks  of  the  Illinois  shall 
have  been  covered  with  a  dense  population  and  when  the  low 
prairies  which  extend  between  that  river  and  Ft.  "Wayne  shall 
have  acquired  a  population  proportionate  to  the  produce  they 
can  yield,  that  Chicago  may  become  one  of  the  points  hi  the 
direct  line  of  communication  between  the  northern  lakes  and 
the  Mississippi  but  even  the  intercourse  which  'will  be  carried 
on  through  this  communication  will,  we  think,  at  all  time  be  a 
limited  one;  the  dangers  attending  the  navigation  of  the  lake 
and  the  scarcity  of  harbors  along  the  shores  must  ever  prove  a 


1  Mason,  Early  Chicago  and  Illinois,  12 ;  Life  of  O-urdon  S.  Hubbard,  38. 
*  Wentworth,  Reminiscences  of  Early  Chicago,  3  in  Fergus  Historical  Series 
I.,  No.  7. 

[189] 


476  BULLETIN    OF    THE    UNIVEKSITY    OF    WISCONSIN 

serious  obstacle  to  the  commercial  importance  of  Chicago."3 
Later  development  has  shown  beyond  any  doubt  that  the  posi- 
tion  of  Chicago  together  with  the  scarcity  of  good  ports  along 
the  lake  has  been  of  enormous  advantage  to  the  city. 

By  1826  the  taxable  property  in  the  Chicago  settlement  was 
valued  at_$8,000,  the  American  Fur  Company  owning  by  far 
the  greater  ^art7~  Thirteen  other  property  holders  resided  here 
and  the  voting  population  numbered  thirty-five.4  In  1829  the 
town  was  platted  by  the  canal  commissioners  on  land  donated 
by  Congress  to  aid  the  state  in  the  construction  of  the  Illinois- 
Michigan  canal.  The  land  sale  took  place  in  the  fall  of  1829 
and  competition  among  the  land  speculators  forced  the  prices 
of  lots  up  to  a  fancy  figure  for  a  frontier  village.5 

In  1830  the  population  was  estimated  at  anywhere  from 
twenty-five0  to  one  hundred  people,7  although  from  time  to 
time  an  influx  of  immigrants  bound  for  the  interior  increased 
the  population  several  fold  for  a  short  period.8  Still,  Chicago 
had  no  post  office  but  the  village  was  now  of  sufficient  importance 
to  receive  a  call  from  the  mail-carrier  once  a  week  instead  of 
once  a  month,  as  f  ormerly.  Prospective  work-On  the  canal  attracted 
populati  on.  .aniL  jjuriog-4he-  -year  immigrants  Jbegan-i 


A  brisk  trade  sprang  up  with  the  Indians  who  remained  in  the 
regjion,  increasing  the  profits  of  the  few  traders  located  there, 
but  otherwise  injuring  the  prospects  for  the  growth  of  white 
settlement.  In  1831  Cook  county  was  organized.9  Previously 
it  had  been  a  precinct  of  Crawford  county  and  had  caused  the 
tax  collector  of  the  county  no  end  of  trouble,  for  each  year  he 
was  compelled  to  make  the  trip  to  Chicago  to  collect  a  few  dol- 
lars which  would  not  pay  the  expenses  of  the  trip. 

When  1832  opened  there  were  half  a  dozen  white  families  in 
Chicago  and  some  Indians,10  five  log  buildings  composing  the 


3  Biles'  Register,  57,  35. 

^SKeMJEonilV-JfemifHscejices  of  Early  Chicago,  15  in  Fergus  Historical  Series 
1,  No.  7. 

5Kingston,  Early  Western  Days  in  Wis.  Hist.  Collections,  7,  333. 

6  Land  We  Love,  5,  470. 

7  Chicago  Tribune,  Apr.  12,  1875. 

8  Four  hundred  immigrants  wintered  here  in  1831-32.      (Moses  and  Kirkland, 
Chicago,  1,  87.) 

•  Sheahan  and  Upton,  The  Great  Conflagration,  26. 
10  Chicago  Weekly  American,  Aug.  15,  1835. 

[190] 


POOLEY SETTLEMENT    OF    ILLINOIS,    1830-50  477 

settlement.11  As  to  the  quality  of  the  population  at  least  one 
writer  had  decided  views  and  expressed  them.  "Next  in  rank 
to  the  officers  and  commissioners  may  be  noticed  certain  shop- 
keepers and  merchants  resident  here;  looking  either  to  the  in- 
flux of  new  settlers  establishing  themselves  in  the  neighborhood 
or  those  passing  yet  farther  to  the  westward  for  custom  and 
profit;  not  to  forget  the  chance  of  extraordinary  occasions  like 
the  present.  Add  to  these  a  doctor  or  two,  two  or  three  law- 
yers, a  land  agent  and  five  or  six  hotel-keepers.  These  may  be 
considered  as  stationary  and  proprietors  of  the  half  a  hundred 
clapboard  houses  around  you  .  .  .  Then  for  the  birds  of 
passage  exclusive  of  the  Pottawatomies — of  whom  more  anon 
— and  migrants  and  land  speculators  as  numerous  as  the  sand, 
you  will  find  horse  dealers  and  horse  stealers — rogues  of  every 
description,  white,  black,  brown  and  red — half  breeds,  quarter 
breeds  and  men  of  no  breed  at  all;  dealers  in  pigs,  poultry  and 
potatoes — men  pursuing  Indian  claims,  some  for  tracts  of  land 
.  _*.  .  others,  for  pigs  which  the  wolves  had  eaten;  credi- 
tors of  the  tribes  or  of  particular  Indians  who  know  that  they 
have  no  chance  of  getting  their  money  if  they  do  not  get  it 
from  the  government  agents — sharpers  of  every  degree,  pedlars, 
grog  sellers ;  Indian  agents  and  Indian  traders  of  every  descrip- 
tion and  contractors  to  supply  the  Pottawatomies  with  food. 
The  little  village  was  in  an  uproar  from  morning  to  night 
and  from  night  to  morning;  for  during  the  hours  of  darkness 
when  the  housed  portion  of  the  population  of  Chicago  strove 
to  obtain  repose  in  the  crowded  plank  edifices  of  the  village, 
the  Indians  howled,  sang,  wept,  yelled  and  whooped  in  their 
various  encampments;  with  all  this  the  whites  to  me,  seemed  to 
be  more  pagan  than  the  red  men."12  This  view  shows  the  con- 
stant changing  and  shifting  of  population  which  renders  it 
almost  impossible  to  make  an  intelligent  estimate  of  the  size 
of  the  village.13  It  also  brings  to  light  the  frontier  character- 
istics which  the  village  was  not  long  to  retain. 

11  Early  Days  on  the  Lakes  (Walker  Mss.,  In  Buffalo  Historical  Society  Publi- 
cations), (1902),  5. 

12  Latrobe,  Rambler  in  North  America,  3,  152. 

13  Chicago  Weekly  American,  AUK.   15,  1835  estimates  the  population  at  two 
hundred;  Andreas,  Chicago  (1,  159)  says  three  hundred  and  fifty;  In  (1,  177), 
his  estimate  for  1833  is  two  hundred  and  fifty. 

[191] 


478  BULLETIN    OF    THE    UNIVERSITY    OF    WISCONSIN 

Beginning  with  the  year  1833  Chicago  enjoyed  a  wonderfully 
rapid  growth  until  1837.  In  May,  1833,  the  settlers  organized 
the  village  of  Chicago  and  by  the  end  of  the  year  there  were 
one  hundred  and  sixty  frame  houses14  in  the  settlement,  which 
showed  a  distinct  advance  over  the  few  log  huts  of  but  two 
years  before.  Commerce  now  began  to  spring  up  and  in'  1833 
four  vessels,  aggregating  seven  hundred  tons  burden,  arrived.15 
Congress,  to  foster  the  new  trade,  made  appropriations  for  the 
improvement  of  the  harbor  which  at  this  date  was  an  exceed- 
ingly poor  one.16  A  newspaper  was  established,  The  Chicago 
Weekly  Democrat,  which  was  obliged  to  suspend  publication 
from  time  to  time,  owing  to  lack  of  paper.17 

The  immigration  of  1833  became  a  flood  in  1834.  During  a 
part  of  the  month  of  April  the  arrivals  numbered  one  hundred 
a  day,  and  it  was  estimated  that  in  May  some  eight  hundred 
more  arrived.  Building  grew  apace  and  by  the  end  of  June 
seventy-five  new  buildings  had  been  added.  The  price  of  land 
had  begun  to  advance  and  desirable  locations  upon  business 
streets  commanded  a  rental  of  three  dollars  per  front  foot.18 
The  population  was  now  established  at  1,800.19 

If  immigration  to  'Chicago  was  remarkable  in  1834  it  was 
enormous  in  1835.  In  addition  to  the  actual  immigrants  who 
came  yearly  in  ever-increasing  numbers,  the  land  sale  which 
was  advertised  to  take  place  early  in  the  year  brought  a  crowd 
-of  strangers  and  capitalists  ready  to  avail  themselves  of  the 
rapid  rise  in  land  values  which  seemed  sure  to  take  place  in 
and  around  Chicago  and  along  the  line  of  the  canal. 

Speculation. reached  its  height  in  1835  and  1836  and  in  the 
West,  Chicago  was  its  center.  One  transaction  may  be  noted  in 
the  way  of  illustration.  Early  in  the  spring  of  1835  a  Mr. 
Hubbard  bought  eighty  acres  east  of  the  river  paying  for  it 
$5,000.  A  few  months  after  his  purchase  he  had  occasion  to 
.go  east  and  upon  visiting  New  York,  much  to  his  surprise,  he 


*  Flinn  and  Wilkle,   Chicago   Police,   44. 

5  Ni l<%>  Register,  51,  274. 

8  American  Railroad  Journal  and   General  Advertiser    (1847),   729. 

T  Gale,  Reminiscences  of  Chicago,  47.       , 

8  Chicago  Weekly  Democrat,  June  18,  1834. 

9  Andreas,  Chicago,  1,  159. 


[192] 


POOLEY SETTLEMENT    OF    ILLINOIS,    1830-50  479 

found  quite  a  speculation  in  Chicago  property  raging  there. 
Grasping  the  opportunity  for  a  good  bargain  he  hired  an  en- 
graver, had  a  plat  of  his  eighty  acres  prepared  and  sold  half 
of  his  land  for  $80,000.  Upon  returning  to  Chicago  and  spread- 
ing the  news,  city  property  went  up  enormously  in  price ;  ' '  every 
man  who  owned  a  garden  patch  stood  on  his  head,  imagined 
himself  a  millionaire,  put  up  the  corner  lots  to  fabulous  figures 
and  what  is  strange,  never  could  ask  enough."20  The  price  of 
land  rose  an  hundred  and  frequently  a  thousand  fold.21  Saga- 
cious men,  looking  far  into  the  future,  now  seemed  to  perceive 
that  cities  and  villages  covering  but  small  plots  of  ground  were 
destined  to  grow  without  limit,  and  accordingly  plunged  wildly 
into  speculation  in  lands,  fearing  all  the  time  that  it  was  al- 
ready too  late  to  reap  the  greatest  benefits  from  investments. 
Over  572,000  acres  of  land  were  sold  by  the  Chicago  Land  Of- 
fice during  the  years  1835  and  1836.22 

To  aid  the  spirit  of  speculation  which  now  raged  in  the  West, 
business  was  done  almost  entirely  upon  a  credit  basis  and  it  so 
continued  until  loss  of  confidence  precipitated  a  financial  crash. 
The  incessant  coming  and  going  of  people  made  the  population 
of  Chicago  an  unknown  quantity  during  these  years  of  specula- 
tion and,  as  one  authority  says  it  was  "so  mercurial  in  its  evolu- 
tion that  it  was  almost  impossible  to  keep  your  finger  on  a  man 
long  enough  to  count  him. '  '-3  So  rapidly  did  newcomers  throng 
into  the  town  that  the  taverns  could  not  begin  to  hold  the 
crowds;  and  men,  women  and  children  thronged  the  wharves 
and  streets.  Storehouses  were  thrown  open  for  their  shelter 
and  when  this  device  could  no  longer  supply  the  demand  for 
lodging  places  tents  were  set  up  in  the  streets.24 

The  business  blocks  of  the  town  had  grown  considerably25 
and  the  demand  of  lumber  for  new  buildings  was  beyond  the 
power  of  transportation  facilities  to  supply,  while  the  lack  of 


20  Il)id. 

21  Balestier,  Annals  of  Chicago,  25.    Fergus  Hist.  Series,  7,  1. 

22  Prairie  Farmer,  8,  231. 

23  Gale,  Reminiscences  of  Chicago,  103. 

24  Chicago  Weekly  American,  June  13,  1835. 

25  Chicago  Weekly  American,  Aug.  15,  1835,  gives  the  following  list  of  business 
houses  in  the  town :     Fifty  stores  ;  eight  taverns ;  twenty-five  mechanic's  shops  ; 
two  printing  offices ;  one  steam  mill ;  one  brewery. 

13  [193] 


480  BULLETIN    OF    THE    UNIVERSITY    OF    WISCONSIN 

mechanics  to  construct  new  buildings  was  for  the  time  being  a 
drawback  to  the  growth  of  the  town.26  The  streets  were  in  no 
better  condition  than  formerly.  Lake  street  had  been  turn- 
piked  but  the  irregular  manner  in  which  the  boards  had  been 
laid  and  the  lack  of  proper  slant  in  the  gutters  tended  to  collect 
and  stagnate  the  water  drained  from  the  streets,  making  them 
places  favorable  to  the  breeding  of  fevers.27  Such  conditions 
caused  some  people  to  hesitate  to  settle  here  and  rather  than 
risk  their  health  among  such  surroundings  they  went  into  the 
interior. 

The  year  1836  was  but  a  repetition  of  1835  so  far  as  develop- 
ment was  concerned.  Excavation  began  on  the  Illinois  and 
Michigan  canal28  which  wa^jL-signal  for  a  new  crowd  of  settlers 
and  speculators  to  flock  into  the  city.  For  the  year29  four 
hundred  and  fifty-six  arrivals  of  boats  are  recorded.  Besides 
bringing  immigrants  in  great  numbers,  large  amounts  of  mer- 
chandise were  brought  to  supply  the  trade  which  had  now  de- 
:  veloped  with  the  back  country.  A  person  reading  the  county 
histories  of  central  and  northern  Illinois  is  struck  by  the  fact 
that  a  great  proportion  of  the  agricultural  class1  of  all  these  por- 
tions of  the  state  looked  to  Chicago  .for^tlie-naarket  for  their 
produce  and  for  the  supply  depot  for  such  merchandise  as  they 
needed.  Rapidly  indeed  did  this  trade  increase  as  the  country 
filled  up  and  the  demand  was  so  great  in  both  country  and  in 
the  city  itself  that  there  was  a  shortage  in  1836  since  the  dealers 
had  not  calculated  on  such  a  tremendous  increase  in  trade.80 
Stores  became  in  great  demand,  ordinary  places  of  business 
bringing  from  $1,000  to  $1,500  a  year  rent.31  Population  in- 
creased, but  not  with  such  rapidity  as  in  preceding  years,  due 
probably  to  the  fact  that  the  commencement  of  work  on  the 
canal  drew  away  many  from  the  town,  for  a  time  at  least. 

In  March,  1837,  Chicago  was  given  a  city  government  and 
in  the  following  May,  William  B.  Ogden  was  elected  mayor,  at 


26  Chicago  Weekly  Democrat,  Dec.  4,  1835. 
2Tbid.,  July  25,  1835. 

28  Colbert  and  Chamberlain,  Chicago,  46. 

29  Niles'  Register,  51,  274. 

30  Chicago  Weekly  American,  July  9,  1836. 
31 1  old. 

[194] 


POOLEY SETTLEMENT    OF    ILLINOIS,    1830-50  481 

which  election  seven  hundred  votes  were  cast.32  Chicago  was 
now  a  oity  indeed,  in  size  as  well  as  in  government.  By  the 
census  of  July  of  1837  it  was  found  that  4,179  people33  resided 
within  the  city  limits,  which  extended  over  ten  square  miles. 
There  were  nearly  five  hundred  buildings  and  the  taxable  valua- 
tion of  property,  placed  at  one-fourth  the  true  value,  amounted 
to  $236,842.  The  city  taxes  for  the  year  were  $5,900.34  The 
fact  that  the  male  population  in  the  city,  over  twenty-one  years 
of  age,  out-numbered  the  female  population  over  two  to  one85 
gives  evidence  of  the  pioneer  character  of  the  city  even  at  such 
a  late  date. 

So  far  everything  had  been  prosperous  in  this  rapidly  grow- 
ing western  town  and  indications  pointed  to  a  still  more  pros- 
perous future;  but  the  financial  revulsion  which  swept  over 
the  country  upon  the  heels  of  the  craze  for  speculation  proved  a 
sad  blow  to  Chicago.  Immigration  to  the  city  stopped,  or  at 
least  was  checked  to  a  great  degree ;  business  stagnated  and  city 
property  became  almost  worthless,  for  no  one  wished  to  buy 
and  every  one  wished  to  sell.  Some  men,  accounted  the  most 
prosperous  of  Chicago's  population  in  later  years,  owed  their 
wealth  to  their  inability  to  dispose  of  their  property  during 
these  dark  years  of  the  city's  history.  The  city  gradually  sank 
lower  and  lower  in  public  favor  and  in  commercial  importance 
until  it  seemed  "to  sleep  the  sleep  of  death."36  Slowly  it 
revived  from  its  lethargy  and  from  1842  again  began  to  show 
signs  of  returning  activity. 

The  population  in  1838  was  numerically  less  than  in  1837 
but  a  slight  gain  was  enjoyed  in  1839,  as  in  1840,  from  which 
date  the  yearly  gains  were  more  substantial.37  The  greater 


8J  Illinois  Blue  Book,  (1900),  147,  gives  seven  hundred  and  nine  votes. 

33  Andreas,  Chicago,  1,  159. 

31  Colbert  and  Chamberlain,  Chicago,  49. 

35  Andreas,  Chicago,  1,  177. 

36  Chicago  Times,  Apr.  30,  1846. 

37  Andreas,  Chicago,  1,  159,  and  Balestter,  Annals  of  Chicago,  35  In  Fergus 
Hist.  Scries,  1,  give  statistics  for  the  population  of  Chicago  as  follows : 

1836    (A)  4000,  (B)  3820 

1837    (A)  4179,  (B)  4179 

1838    i (A)  4000,  (B)  4000 

1839    (A)  4200,  (B)  4200 

1840    (A)  4470,  (B)  4479 

1841    (A) ,  (B)  5752 

1842    (A)  ,  (B)  6248 

[195] 


482  BULLETIN    OF    THE    UNIVERSITY    OF    WISCONSIN 

portion  of  the  inhabitants  were,  actively  engaged  in  trade,  but 
there  were  also  a  number  of  "retired  families,  army  officers  and 
persons  living  on  incomes  derived  from  land  and  funds."38  A 
majority  of  the  people  were  from  the  eastern  states  and  thiis 
elass  of  settlers  held  control  of  the  city  government.  In  1841 
Mayor  Sherman  and  the  twelve  aldermen  in  the  city  council 
were  all  from  the  East.39  Probably  foreigners  were  next  in 
number,  there  being  2,256,  or  almost  thirty  per  cent,  of  the 
total  population,  of  foreign  birth  or  parentage  in  1843.  The 
population  of  the  city  at  that  date  was  7,580.40  Of  the  foreign 
element  one-third  were  Irish  and  the  greater  part  of  the  re- 
mainder, German  and  Scandinavian. 

Business  houses  had  increased  in  importance  as  well  as  num- 
bers;41 new  buildings  were  rapidly  going  up,  and  the  number 
in  the  city  had  already  nearly  reached  1,400.42  The  valuation 
of  city  property  was  a  matter  of  conjecture  and  estimates  varied 
widely.43 

Chicago  had  now  become  a  shipping  point^ofjeqnseo^uence. 
Previous  to  1839  the  city  and  the  back  country  had  been  sup- 
plied with  flour  and  other  provisions  from  the  East  but  in  that 
year  a  vessel  laden  with  seven  hundred  barrels  of  flour  entered 
the  port  and  was  compelled  to  leave  again  without  being  able 
to  dispose  of  her  cargo.44  The  small  consignment  of  wheat, 


38  Buckingham,  Eastern  and  Western  States,  3,  265. 

48  Blanchard,  The  Northwest  and  Chicago,  1,  671. 

40  Norris  and  Gardner,  Illinois  Annual  Register  (1847),  76. 

*  Macgregor,  Commercial  Statistics,  338.  In  1840  there  were  four  commercial 
houses  with  a  capital  of  $35,000 ;  ninety-seven  retail  stores,  capital  $400,000 ; 
eleven  lumber  yards,  capital  $40,000 ;  four  newspapers  and  three  printing  offices ; 
two  flour  mills ;  one  distillery  and  one  furnace. 

42  Colbert  and  Chamberlain,  Chicago,  56 ;  two  hundred  and  fifty-six  stores  of 
which  thirty-seven  were  brick  and  eight  hundred  and  eighty-four  dwelling  houses 
of  which  eight  hundred  and  forty-two  were  frame. 

43  Blanchard,  The  Northwest  and  Chicago,  2,  17. 

1843    $1,441,314 

Parker,  Growth  of  Illinois  and  Chicago,  19. 

1841    $1,967,445 

1842   $1,530,213 

1843   $1,570,490 

Western  Journal  and  Civilian,  12,  5. 

1840   $1,864,205 

1841   $1,888,160 

1842   $2,325,240 

1843    $2,250,705 

44  Mies'  Register,  74,  265. 

[196] 


POOLEY SETTLEMENT    OF    ILLINOIS,    1830-50  483 


(seventy-eight  bushels)  which  was  shipped  from  Chicago  in 
1838,  was  followed  by  3,700  bushels  in  1839.  Rapidly  this 
trade  increased  and  during  the  early  forties,  great  quantities 
of .  grain  poured  into  the  city  from  the  surrounding  country. 
In  1845,  1,000,000  bushels  were  exported  and  this  amount  was 
doubled  in  1847.45 

Probably  the  origin  of  this  export  trade  in  wheat  can  be 
traced  to  the  failure  of  navigation  011  the  Ohio  and  Upper 
Mississippi.  Supplies  could  not  be  obtained  at  St.  Louis 
in  quantities  Inrii'e  enough  to  supply  all  northern  Illinois. 
Neither  could  they  be  obtained  at  Galena,  the  other  supply 
point  of  the  Upper  Mississippi.  As  a  consequence  the 
farmers  turned  their  faces  towards  Chicago  in  search  of  their 
winter  supplies.  Team  after  team  wended  its  way  to  Chicago, 
carting  loads  of  wheat,  the  great  staple  of  the  farmers.  Having 
no  money  with  which  to  buy  supplies  the  farmers  exchanged 
their  produce  for  such  ones  as  they  needed  and,  since  wheat 
was  the  most  valuable  agricultural  product  it  became  the  me- 
dium of  exchange  for  the  farmer.  Once  trading  at  Chicago 
they  found  that,  owing  to  better  facilities  for  transportation, 
goods  were  not  as  high  in  price  as  in  the  towns  along  the  river. 
By  1841  nearly  all  the  farmers  in  Illinois,  Indiana  and  Wiscon- 
sin within  a  radius  of  two  hundred  and  fifty  miles  carted  their 
wheat  to  Chicago.46  Before  1850  other  articles  of  farm  prod- 
uce were  shipped  in  considerable  quantities.  Lake  commerce 
made  rapid  strides  even  during  this  unfavorable  period  and  the 
export  list  which  amounted  to  but  $1,100  in  1836  had  grown 
to  over  $680,000.  in  1843.  The  amount  of  imports  which  was 
$325,200  in  1836  had  increased  to  $971,850  in  1843  although  in 
1840  and  1841  it  was  considerably  lower  than  in  1839. " 

North  of  the  Chicago  River  lay  the  residence  district  connected 
with  the  business  portion  by  bridges  and  ferrys.  Here  pleas- 
ant residences  surrounded  by  piazzas  and  gardens  lined  both 
sides  of  the  streets.  During  the  period  of  depression  the  citi- 
zens, despairing  of  ever  seeing  Chicago  a  great  city,  determined 


48  Eighth  Census,  (1860),  Agriculture,  xlii. 

46  Albany  Argus,  Oct.  11,  1841. 

47  De  Bow's  Review,  5,  374. 

[197] 


484  BULLETIN    OF    THE    UNIVERSITY    OF    WISCONSIN 

to  make  it  at  least  a  pleasant  one,  and  from  the  gardens  which, 
one  by  one,  sprang  into  existence  came  the  name  "Garden 
City. '  '48  Kows  of  trees  separated  the  sidewalks  from  the  streets 
and  added  much  to  the  appearance.  As  yet  the  streets  were  not 
paved  and  many  of  them  still  had  the  green  turf  of  prairie 
grass  in  the  center.49  In  wet  weather  and  in  the  early  spring 
and  fall  they  were  often  rendered  impassable.  It  was  even 
necessary  for  the  men  to  attend  social  events  in  long  boots  and 
the  ladies  to  take  advantage  of  drays  as  a  means  of  conveyance 
for  as  yet  carriages  were  scarce  in  this  western  city.50 

A  system  of  waterworks  was  established  in  1839  when  a  com- 
pany was  chartered  to  supply  the  city  with  water.  A  reservoir 
was  erected  on  the  lake  shore  and  a  pump  installed.  A  twenty- 
five  horse  power  engine  drew  the  water  from  the  lake  into  the 
reservoir  and  distributed  it  through  the  city  by  means  of  a  pipe 
line  composed  of  logs  with  a  three  to  five  inch  bore.61  Where 
the  pipe  line  did  not  reach,  water  carts  supplied  the  residents. 
This  system  was  not  replaced  until  1851. 

Such  was  Chicago  in  1843.  In  spite  of  the  disadvantages 
experienced  during  the  years  immediately  preceding,  the  city 
had  made  rapid  advance.  Churches,  hotels,  school  houses, 
libraries  and  a  medical  college  had  been  established;52  its  com- 
merce had  materially  increased  as  had  trade  with  the  interior; 
its  population  had  increased  in  numbers  and  was  no  longer 
marked  with  such  instability  as  had  formerly  characterized  it 
and  moreover  speculation  of  the  wilder  kind  had  been  effectually 
dampened.  Everything  seemed  favorable  for  greater  prosperity 
and  more  rapid  growth. 

During  the  period  1843-50  Chicago  enjoyed  a  steady  de- 
velopment. Its  population  which  numbered  7,580  in  1843  had 
increased  to  over  28,000  by  1850,53  and  in  the  large  percentage 
of  foreigners  present  partook  to  an  extent  of  the  characteristics 


^Colbert  and  Chamberlain,  Chicago,  52. 

49  Moses  and  Kirkland,  Cliicago,  1,  105. 

00  Buckingham,  Eastern  and  Western  States,  3,  262. 

B1  Sheahan  and  Upton,  The  Great  Conflagration,  29. 

52  Balestier,  Annals  of  Chicago,  32  In  Fergus  Hist.  Series,  1;    Norrts  and  Gard- 
ner, Illinois  Annual  Register  (1847),  18-19. 

53  Andreas,  Chicago,  1,  159. 

[198] 


POOLEY SETTLEMENT    OF    ILLINOIS,    1830-50  485 

of  a  seaboard  city.54  Speaking  of  this  the  Chicago  correspon- 
dent of  the  New  York  Tribune  says  "of  all  the  heterogeneous 
compounds  that  ever  agreed  to  live  neighbors,  I  think  the  like 
cannot  be  found  this  side  of  Ne'w  York.  It  is  only  now  and 
then  a  man,  taken  as  they  come,  who  can  talk  English  without  a 
'rurr-r-r'  to  his  tongue.  Yet  we  get  along  very  peaceably, 
each  man  having  enough  to  do  to  attend  to  his  own  business 
without  taking  upon  him  the  weight  of  other  men's  affairs."55 

Business  increased  rapidly  as  did  manufacturing  industries 
and  commerce,  property  valuation  rising  proportionately.58  The 
manufacturing  establishments  numbered  one  hundred  and 
seventy-seven  and  employed  14,000  men,67  of  these  concerns  the 
McCormick  Reaper  Works1  probably  became  of  greatest  import- 
ance. City  property  was  valued  at  from  seven  to  eight  millions 
of  dollars.58 

By  means  of  commerce  more  than  by  other  means  was  Chicago 
now  able  to  lay  claims  to  importance.  In  1836  the  harbor  of 
Chicago  received  four  hundred  and  fifty-six  vessels,  bringing 
goods  valued  at  something  over  $325,000;  exports  for  the  year 
amounted  to  but  $1,100.  The  following  decade  wrought  a 
wondrous  change.  In  1846  the  vessels  arriving  at  Chicago 
and  leaving  numbered  2,79059  and  carried  merchandise  valued  at 
^$4,938,000.60  The  products  of  the  richest  agricultural  portion 
of  Illinois  poured  into  the  city  bound  for  the  East ;  wheat,  flour, 
corn,  oats  and  meat  being  the  leading  products.  In  1836  not 
a  bushel  of  wheat  was  exported.  In  1840  there  were  only 
10,000  bushels,  but  in  1848  the  amount  exported  was  2,160,000 


04  Prairie  Farmer,  9,  220. 

KNew  York  Weekly  Tribune,  Sept.  8,  1845. 

56  Hunt's  Merchant's  Magazine,  (18,  171)  gives  the  following  list  of  busi- 
ness houses ;  '  twenty-eight  commission  houses ;  eleven  clothing  houses ;  seven 
drug  stores ;  eight  dry  goods  stores ;  sixty-four  wholesale  and  retail  dry  gro- 
cery stores ;  sixty-three  retail  grocery  stores ;  four  hat  and  cap  stores ;  twenty- 
three  hotels;:  ten  newspapers;  twelve  or  fifteen  insurance  agencies;  fifteen  lumber 
dealers  besides  others.  This  was  in  1845. 

87  Industrial  Chicago,  3,  585. 

58  Parker,   Growth  of  Illinois   and  Chicago,     (19,)    estimates   the  property  at 
$7,222,999;  Blanchard,  The  Northwest  and  Chicago,  (2,  17)  places  it  at  the  same 
figure.     Western  Journal  and  Civilian  (12,  5)   gives  it  as  $8,101,000. 

59  Hunt's  Merchants'  Magazine,  18,  171. 

60  De  Bow's  Review,  5,  374. 

[199] 


486  BULLETIN    OF    THE    UNIVERSITY    OF    WISCONSIN 

bushels,  some  of  which  went  directly  to  Europe.61  In  the 
bgfif  and  lumber  .trade  Chicago  was  equally  as  important, 
becoming,  by  1850,  the  foremost  market  in  the  country  in  the 
amount  of  meat  and  lumber  handled.62 

Chicago  had  grown  with  such  wonderful  rapiduty  both  in 
population  and  commercial  importance  that  in  the  struggle  for 
wealth  little  attention  had  been  paid  to  city  improvements  such 
as  lighting  the  streets,  paving  them,  providing  proper  supplies 
of  water  or  proper  sanitary  arrangements.  Criticisms  un- 
favorable in  the  extreme  are  abundant.  For  example  one  writer 
says  concerning  drainage  "the  flat  of  the  town  is  so  level  that 
it  cannot  be  drained.  The  rain  soaks  in  and  dries  up.  It  is  a 
dry  spell  now  but  the  deep  gutters  at  the  sides  of  the  streets 
have  yet  abundant  pools  of  green  stagnant  water.  In  a  wet 
spell  the  depth  of  the  mud  depends  entirely  upon  the  specific 
gravity  of  the  object  fathoming"  it.  There  are  no  pavements 
for  there  is  not  a  stone  as  large  as  a  bullet  tin  the  whole  country. 
The  sidewalks  are  laid  with  plank  and  the  cross  walks  with 
timbers.  In  the  absence  of  mud  there  is  a  dust  as  fine  as  flour 
and  some  twelve  inches  or  more  in  depth  which  is  set  in  motion 
by  every  breeze  and  by  the  vehicles  which  plough  through  it. 
The  water  from  the  wells  is  a  filtration  through  this  mud.  The 
inhabitants  say  they  use  lake  water  brought  in  by  a  hydrant  but 
the  article  I  have  seen  is  very  different  from  what  we  used  on 
board  the  boat.  It  is  decidedly  dirty  in  its  appearance  and  its 
taste  also,  a  very  essence  of  fever  and  ague.  .  .  .  Upon  the 
whole,  Chicago  is  about  the  last  place  a  stranger  would  fancy 
as  a  place  of  residence."63 

Another  says,  "it  was  a  rickety  city  of  frame  shanties  .  .  . 
inhabited  by  a  pushing,  hustling,  lively  people,  shut  off  as  one 
looks  at  it  now,  from  half  the  privileges  and  enjoyments  that 
make  life  endurable."64 


81  First  cargo  of  wheat  bound  for  England  left  Chicago  in  1S47.  ^American, 
Agriculturist,  «,  226.) 

62  Curtiss,  Western  Portraiture,  51 ;  Hunt's  Merchants'  Magazine,  (18,  169  > 
states  that  7,550,000  feet  of  planks  were  handled  In  1843,  and  100,368,000  feet 
in  1850 ;  Curtiss,  Western  Portraiture,  (45)  gives  the  amount  for  1850  as  175,- 
000,000  feet. 

«'  Prairie  Farmer,  7,  260.     (Extract  from  the  Utica  (N.  Y.)   Gazette,  1847.) 

**  Van  Dorn,  View  of  Chicago  in  1848,  in  Magazine  of  Western  History,  1O,  42. 

[200] 


POOLEY  -  SETTLEMENT    OF    ILLINOIS,    1830-50  48T 

Its  position  among  the  cities  of  the  country  once  established,, 
Chicago  citizens  began  to  look  to  local  _  improvements.  The  old 
frame  buildings  thrown  together  in  the  shortest  possible  time 
rapidly  gave  way  to  more  substantial  brick  edifices,  in  keeping- 
with  the  times.  Previous  to  1844  the  city  had  practically  been 
at  a  loss  to  provide  school  houses  for  the  children,  being  de- 
pendent principally  upon  renting  such  rooms  as  could  be  fitted 
up  for  the  purpose.  When,  a  few  years  later,  one  alderman 
had  persisted  in  obtaining  an  appropriation  and  building  a 
school-house,  the  people  indignantly  called  it  '  *  Miltimorfi^s 
ffolly"  °n  account  of  the  supposedly  enormous  expenditures  of 
money  for  an  object  the  wisdom  of  which  was  questioned.  The 
mayor  ridiculed  the  extravagance  of  the  venture  for  it  would 
accommodate  more  children,  he  said,  than  would  ever  be  in  Chi- 
cago. Moreover,  he  suggested  that  it  be  turned  into  an  asylum 
for  the  insane.65  A  change  came  about,  however,  and  a  traveler 
through  the  cityjn_jy^jsajsjlth_e^re^ 


is_itsJBri«MHpy  Sehools,  —  -its  common  or^free  school  edifices  are  the 
best  buildings  for  that  purpose  I  have  even  seen  in  any  city."06 

Churches,  too,  shared  in  the  increased  prosperity.  From 
cramped  quarters  occupied  in  the  earlier  years  of  the  decade, 
these  churches  had  come  to  occupy  more  elegant  and  spacious 
ones.  Gothic  architecture  and  stained  glass  windows  had  sup- 
planted deserted  warehouses  and  small  frame  buildings  as  places 
of  worship,67  and  in  1850  the  property  of  the  twenty-nine 
churches  in  Chicago  was  valued  at  $273,  OOO.68 

In  1850  the  Chicago  Gas  Light  and  Coke  Company  was  or- 
ganized and  secured  a  c6ntracT~tb  furnish  gas  light  to  the  city 
for  ten  years.69  The  police  force  was  also  enlarged,  one  marr 
being  assigned  to  each  of  the  nine  wards.70 

Communication  with  the  interior  was  improved.  In  the 
early  spring  the  low  prairies  around  Chicago  were  well-nigh 
impassable  for  teams  and  this  condition  operated  to  the  detri- 


65  Binckley,  Chicago  of  the  Thinker,  in  Lakeside,  1O,  261. 
86  Curtiss,   Western^Portralture,   59.. 


88  Compendium  of  the  Seventh  Census  (1850),  140. 
68  Colbert  and  Chamberlain,  Chicago,  69. 
70  Flinn  and  Wilkie,  Chicago  Police,  58. 


[201] 


488  BULLETIN    OF    THE    UNIVERSITY    OF    WISCONSIN 

ment  of  the  city  people  as  well  as  the  farmers  in  the  interior. 
To  overcome  this  difficulty  substantial  "plank  roads"  were 
constructed  in  every  direction  at  a  cost  of  from  $1,000  to  $1,500 
per  mile  and  kept  in  repair  by  the  tolls  collected.  Although 
this  was  but  one  and  one-half  cents  per  mile  the  roads  paid 
dividends  ranging  from  fifteen  to  forty  per  cent,  annually.71 
To  add  to  the  facility  of  communication  with  the  back  country, 
the  Illinois  jand  .Michigan  canal  was  opened  for  traffic  in  1848, 
as  was  part  of  the  Galena  and  Chicago  Union  railroad  a  year 
later.  For  a  time  it  seemed  as  if  these  additional  lines  of  trans- 
portation operated  to  the  detriment  of  Chicago,  especially  in 
the  retail  trade  for  it  tended  to  draw  the  retail  dealers  nearer 
to  their  customers.  This  loss,  however,  was  rapidly  supplanted 
by  a  gain  in  the  wholesale  trade,72  for  around  the  city  grew 
up  many  smaller  settlements  which  looked  to  Chicago  as  their 
supply  depot. 

Of  the  thousands  of  acres  of  land  sold  at  the  Chicago  Land 
Office  during  the  decade  1841  to  1850  much  was  close  to  the 
city  and  little  fell  into  the  hands  of  speculators.  This  latter 
fact  aided  in  the  settlement  of  the  vicinity.  Of  the  small 
towns  in  the  immediate  neighborhood  of  the  city,  Jefferson  was 
settled  in  1830,73  Oak  Park  in  1833,74  Norwood  Park  in  1834,75 
Blue  Island  in  1835,76  Evanston  in  1836,77  Lake  View  in  184478 
and  Hyde  Park  in  1848.79  By  1845  there  were  in  Cook  county 
twenty-two  settlements  besides  Chicago,  and  twelve  of  these 
claimed  five  hundred  or  more  inhabitants  each.80  The  popula- 
tion of  the  entire  county  was  43,385  in  1850.81 

The  development  of  Chicago  must  be  called  wonderful  rather 
than  typical  of  the  westward  movement.  During  the  early 
years  of  its  existence,  while  it  passed  through  the  'log  cabin' 


71  Curtiss,  Western  Portraiture,  52. 

™Ibid.,  52. 

73  Andreas,  Cook  County,  744. 

™Ibid.,  782. 

"^Wrf.,  477. 

70  Ibid.,  629. 

77  Ibid.,  417. 

78  Ibid.,  708. 
"  Ibid.,  607. 

80  Ibid.,  341. 

81  Seventh  Census,  (1850),  701. 

[202] 


POOLEY SETTLEMENT    OF    ILLINOIS,    1830-50  489 

stage  of  development  the  growth  may  be  safely  called  typical 
of  the  growth  of  the  West.  Slowly  the  settlers  came  at  first 
and  in  the  accounts  of  travelers  can  be  found  the  incidents  which 
prove  the  frontier  characteristics  of  the  village.  The  years 
of  booming  and  speculation  came  during  the  period  1833-37; 
steam  navigation  upon  the  lakes  made  the  village  a  port  of 
importance;  the  land  fever  gave  aid  to  an  unnatural  growth 
but  Chicago  still  remained  a  village  for  the  lack  of  substantial 
support.  The  financial  revulsion  of  1837  checked  the  growth 
of  the  town  as  wrell  as  the  state  but  with  the  return  of  confidence 
in  the  early  forties  Chicago  again  came  to  life,  this  time  to  en- 
joy a  steady  growth  in  numbers  and  in  prosperity  and  to  take 
advantage  of  its  location. 

At  this  date  it  appears  that  no  longer  can  Chicago  be  taken 
as  a  type  of  western  frontier  towns  but  from  this  time  on  one 
must  look  to  physiographic  conditions  for  an  explanation  of 
its  wonderful  growth.  As  yet  railroads  had  not  penetrated  the 
great  agricultural  fields  of  the  West,  but  there  was  nevertheless  a 
demand  for  markets  for  produce  and  these  markets  were  in  the 
East.  .  During  the  decade  1841  to  1850  the  prairies  of  Indiana, 
Illinois  and  Wisconsin  were  filling  up  rapidly  and  ever  increas- 
ing fields  of  wheat,  oats  and  com  ripened  with  each  autumn. 
The  increased  number  of  settlers  meant  an  increased  demand 
for  lumber  and  supplies  of  all  kinds  and  Chicago,  situated  at 
the  terminus  of  the  great  highway  of  communication  with  the 
East  naturally  attracted  farmers  by  thousands,  who  came  to 
exchange  their  farm  products  for  the  products  of  the  East. 

Chicago's  growth  was  now  substantial  and  normal  because  of 
its1  situation  at  the  gateway  of  commerce.  The  great  West,  with 
its  ever  increasing  wealth  of  agricultural  products,  was  its  store- 
house; the  East  w^as  its  market  and  the  city,  being  the  favored 
point  of  collection  and  distribution,  the  connecting  link  between 
East  and  West,  was  destined  to  grow  in  wealth  and  power  with 
the  increasing  demands  of  producer  and  consumer.  Still 
greater  possibilities  were  to  open  up  when  during  the  fifties  the 
railroads  were  to  radiate  from  the  city  to  various  points  of 
the  rich  farming  lands  around  the  lakes,  greatly  increasing  the 
area  of  influence  of  the  rapidly  growing  metropolis.  Primar- 

[303] 


490  BULLETIN    OF    THE    TJXIVEKSITY    OE    WISCONSIN 

ily  a  commercial  city,  for  a  time,  to  commerce  must  be  attrib- 
uted the  development,  but  soon  manufactures  grew  up  to  add 
to  wealth  and  industry  and  in  this  departure  may  be  seen  still 
another  cause  for  growth. 

Another  point  must  next  claim  attention  —  the  character 
of  the  population.  Here  also  is  seen  the  influence  of  transpor- 
tation routes.  The  line  of  the  Great  Lakes  was  the  connecting 


link  between  the  West  and  the  seaports  of  the  North(ges$)  and 
along  this  great  highway  came  many  foreigners,  who,  desirous 
of  making  their  homes  in  the  interior,  took  the  easiest  road 
thither  and  came  to  the  best  known  port.  The  result  is  seen 
in  the  fact  that  one-third  of  Chicago's  population  was  of  for- 
eign descent.  Moreover,  New  Yorkers  and  New  Englanders 
abounded  in  the  city  and  vicinity,  probably  for  the  same  reason. 
In  a  word,  it  appears  that  Chicago  is  the  result  of  physio- 
graphic influences,  its  favorable  location  allowing  it  to  profit 
by  the  influences  of  the  interaction  of  the  agricultural  "West  and 
the  manufacturing  East.  Its  location  at  the  terminus  of  the 
great  line  of  communication  with  the  East,  thus  becoming  both  a 
distributing  and  a  collecting  point  for  an  exceedingly  wealthy 
back  country  gave  it  the  permanent  foundation  upon  which  to 
build  its  industrial  life.82 


*2  Hunt's  Merchants'  Magazine,  (9,  31)  prints  an  article  in  1843,  discussing 
the  claims  to  future  greatness  of  the  cities  of  the  section.  The  writer  offers  evi- 
dence to  show  that  it  will  lie  on  the  Great  Lakes  rather  than  on  the  Ohio  river, 
but  Tie  decides  in  favor  of  the  location  at  the  mouth  of  the  Maumee,  rather  than 
Chicago.  The  article  is  of  interest  as  showing  the  difficulty  of  contemporaneous 
estimate  of  the  condition  which  produced  Chicago's  ascendency. 


[204] 


POOLEY SETTLEMENT    OF    ILLINOIS,    1830-50  491 


CHAPTER 


Immigration  first  assumed  large  proportions  during  the  V 
•decade  1831-1840  and  increased  progressively  during  the  ne'si 
twenty  years,  being  relatively  greater  in  proportion  to  the 
native  population  than  at  any  other  period.1  Just  what  per- 
centage of  the  immigrants  to  the  United  States  found  their 
way  to  the  Mississippi  valley  is  difficult  to  determine  as  the  es- 
timates of  the  writers  vary  considerably  and  census  statistics 
are  not  available  before  1850.2 

In  1850  Illinois  had  a  population  of_£5J+5QQ_and  of  this  num- 
ber J.10,600  were  jEoreigners.3  Owing  to  the  fact  that  Illinois 
was  still  a  new  state  with  an  abundance  of  fertile  land  yet 
unclaimed  in  1830,  when  European  emigration  began  to  become 
of  some  consequence,  and  that  the  state  was  situated  at  the  ter- 
minus1 of  the  northern  route  of  travel  over  the  Great  Lakes,  it 
is  natural  to  expect  that  it  would  have  a  considerable  and 
varied  foreign  population  and  this  is  the  case. 

In  selecting  places  for  settlement  there  were  decided  prefer- 
ences displayed  by  the  various  nationalities.  The  Germans, 
naturally,  inclining  towards  agriculture  were  most  frequently 
found  in  the  agricultural  districts ;  the  Irish  seem  to  have  stayed 
in  the  cities  or  to  have  served  as  laborers  along  the  lines  of 
communication  although  an  example  of  agricultural  pursuits 


1  McLaughlin,    The   Immigrant,   Past   and   Present,    in    The   Popular    Science 
Monthly,  July,  1904,  225. 

2  One  writer  says  thata  seventy-five  of  every  hundred  continental  Immigrants  to 
•the  United  States  went  west,  but  only  twenty-five  of  every  hundred  Irish  and 
English  went  west.     (Walker,  Mississippi  Valley,  347.)     Another  says  that  oner 
third  the  total  Immigration  located  in  the  West.     (Edinburgh  Revieic,  1OO,  242.) 

3  Seventh  Census  (1850),  36. 

[205] 


492  BULLETIN    OP    THE    UNIVEKSITY    OF    WISCONSIN 

adopted  by  Irishmen  is  to  be  had  in  the  country  along  the 
lines  of  the  Illinois  and  Michigan  canal.  When  the  work  on  the 
canal  stopped  in  the  early  forties  the  Irish  laborers  turned  their 
attention  to  agriculture,  some  of  them  following  it  permanently. 

The  English,  Scotch,  French  and  Swedes  also  inclined  to- 
wards agricultural  pursuits,  (generally  speaking  the  foreign- 
ers tended  to  settle  together  in  localities  apart  from  the  other 
settlers  and  to  maintain  their  national  language  and  customs 
as  long  as  possible.  This  tendency  is  displayed  even  today  in 
both  the  country  and  the  large  cities.  As  time  went  on,  how- 
ever, the  intermixture  of  Americans  and  foreigners  became  fre- 
quent, and  as  the  country  became  more  and  more  densely  set- 
tled it  was  impossible  for  the  various  nationalities  to  avoid  con- 
tact and  in  many  counties  the  varied  composition  of  population 
suggests  an  indiscriminate  throwing  together  of  representatives 
a  dozen  nationalities.  > 

The  lead  region  affords  an  excellent  example.  One  traveler 
speaking  of  the  district  and  its  inhabitants  says :  ' '  The  miners 
are  the  most  wonderful  mixture  of  humanity  that  ever  I 
beheld;  they  are  from  all  parts  of  the  world  but  chiefly  from 
Ireland,  Derbyshire,  Cornwall  and  Germany."4  Still  another 
says  concerning  the  same  district,  "I  visited  Galena  in  1829 
and  found  a  most  singular  and  mysterious  medley  of  people 
located  in  that  place.  People  from  all  quarters  of  the  earth 
had  flocked  there  on  account  of  the  celebrity  of  the  lead 
mines."5  In  1843  about  thirty  per  cent,  of  Chicago's  popu- 
lation were  foreigners6  and  by  1850  fully  one-third  were  of  for- 
eign birth.7  One-third  of  the  votes  in  Peoria  in  the  election  of 
1849  were  cast  by  foreigners.8  Almost  twenty-five  per  cent.,  of 
the  population  of  Freeport  in  1850  were  foreigners.9  "In  all 


*  Murray,  Travels  in  North  America,  (1854),  2,  129. 

8  Reynolds,  Illinois,  168. 

"Norris  and  Gardiner,  Illinois  Annual  Register  (1847),  76;  population  of 
Chicago,  7,580 ;  of  these  2,256  were  foreign.  The  Germans  and  Irish  together 
numbered  about  1,600.  They  were  nearly  equally  divided. 

7  Prairie  Farmer,  9,  220. 

*Ballance,  Peoria,  201.  The  total  vote  was  1,324.  Foreigners  cast  four  hun- 
dred and  thirty-five  of  these.  Germans  and  Irish  were  most  numerous. 

8  Johnston,  Sketches  of  Stephcnson  County,  94.     Population  of  Freeport  1,436 — 
foreigners,  352. 

[206] 


POOLEY SETTLEMENT    OF    ILLINOIS,    1830-50  493 

the  large  cities  and  towns  of  Illinois,  Europeans,  mostly  Ger- 
mans and  Irish,  have  located  to  a  considerable  number  within 
the  last  fifteen  or  twenty  years  and  in  some  localities  the  num- 
ber far  exceeds  the  native  Americans,"10  says  Reynolds  in  his 
history  of  Illinois  and  the  statement  does  not  appear  to  be 
overdrawn. 

These  conditions  appear  true  also  for  the  parts  of  the  state 
outside  the  cities.  Take  for  example  Kane  county.  The  local 
historian  says,  ' '  There  is  probably  no  county  in  Illinois  that  has 
accumulated  its  population  from  such  varied  sources  as  has 
Kane  county.  From  first  to  last  there  have  been  no  less  than 
ten  distinct  and  separate  nationalities  which  have  furnished  not 
individuals  only  but  colonies,  who  have  made  their  settlements 
in  the  borders  of  the  staunch  old  county."11  These  examples 
do  not,  however,  seem  to  be  exceptional  cases. 

Germans  were  the  most  numerous  of  the  foreigners  in  Ill- 
inois in  1850,  composing  over  one-third  of  the  foreign  popu- 
lation of  the  state.12      Economic,  political,  and  religious  influ- 
ences were  at  work  in  the  fatherland  causing  a  tide  of  migra- 
tion from  all  parts  of  the  country  to  America.13     Once  in  Amer- 
ica the  cheap  land  of  the  fertile  Mississippi  Valley  was  an  in-l- 
ducement  sufficient   to    bring   the    Germans  westward  and  the ' 
line  of  transportation  over  the  lakes  directed  the  course  of  the 
stream  to  the  Chicago  gateway  of  the  Illinois  prairies. 

Religious^unrest  was  one  cause  for  German  emigration.     A  - 
reorganization  of  the  Lutheran  church  had  taken  place  in  the 
later  thirties  and  the  ruling  Hohenzollerns  had  ordered  all  sub- 
jects to  conform  to  the  new  belief.     Penalties  were  threatened 
for  those  who  refused.     Imprisonment,  confiscation  of  property 


10  Reynolds,  Illinois,  184. 

11  Past  and  Present  of  Kane  County,  222. 

12  Seventh  Census,  (1850),  xxxvi. 

13  Emigrants  came  from   Luxemburg    (Mrs.    Levi,    Geographical   Origin   of   the 
German  Immigration  to  Wisconsin,  In  Wls.  Hist.  Collections,  14,  377)  ;  Pomer- 
ania,  (Ibid.,  14,  349)  ;  Prussia,  (Madison  Enquirer,  Oct.  26,  1839)  ;  Hesse,  (Wis- 
konsan  Enquirer,  July  28,   1842)  ;    Bavaria,    (Sohriften  des  Vercins  fiir   Social 
Politik,  52,  90)  ;   Baden  and  Wartenburg,    (Bahr,   German  Immigration  to  the 
United  States,  18JtO-1850,  15,   (MS.  Thesis,  University  of  Wisconsin,  1903)  ;  Baltic 
Countries,   (Mrs.  Levi,  German  Immigration,  in  Wis.  Hist.  Collections,  14,  349)  ; 
Rhine  districts  (Littel'a  Living  Age,  11,  201)  ;    and  from  the  region  of  the  Black 
Forest  (Mies'  Register,  72,  392). 

[207] 


494  BULLETIN"    OF    THE    UNIVERSITY    OF    WISCONSIN 

and  allied  persecutions  were  practised  to  such  an  extent  that 
many  left  their  native  land.14 

Political  grievances,  too,  were  of  importance  all  through  this 
period.  The  unsuccessful  attempts  to  obtain  more  liberal  con- 
stitutions, coming  immediately  after  the  July  Eevolution  of  1830 
in  France,  had  not  left  the  minds  of  the  people  in  peace,  and 
many  had  emigrated.  Gradually  the  movement  gathered 
strength  for  a  new  out-break  against  the  bonds  of  absolutism. 
The  attempt  was  made  for  a  more  liberal  government  in  1848, 
tut  it  failed.  The  result  is  seen  in  the  emigration  of  the  ' '  Forty- 
eighters." 

Greatest  of  all  the  influences,  however,  were  those  of  an  eco- 
mic^  nature,  and  to  these  is  due  the  increase  of  German  emi- 
grants"liT~the  decade  184.1-1850^  '  The  small  hand  industries 
which  for  years  had  been  a  means  by  which  the  poorer  Germans 
were  enabled  to  make  livings  were  now  being  beaten  down  by 
competition  arising  from  the  introduction  of  machinery.15  The 
evils  of  over-production  and  of  over-population  were  at  work. 
Subdivision  of-the  land  had  gone  on  to  a  great  extent  and  so 
small  were  the  little  plots  of  ground  held  by  each  peasant  that 
it  was  with  difficulty  that  the  poor  people  eked  out  a  bare  ex- 
istence. In  normal  years,  at  the  best  only  a  few  potatoes,  a 
little  corn,  oats,  clover  and  hay  could  be  raised  by  the  peasants, 
and  even  well-to-do  farmers  subsisted  on  milk,  potatoes 
,and  corn  bread.16 

—  When  crops  failed  these  poor  peasants  were  destitute.  Dur- 
ing the  early  years  of  the  decade  crops  were  good  but  beginning 
with  the  extremely  severe  winter  of  1844  and  1845  a  change 
^came.  In  that  -winter  many  of  the  vineyards  were  destroyed17 
and  in  the  following  spring  floods  in  the  valleys  of  the  Rhine, 
Moselle,  Main,  Neckar,  Danube,  Elbe  and  Vistula  rivers  materi- 
ally interfered  with  agriculture.18  Moreover  the  potato  crop 
failed,  causing  a  correspondingly  large  increase  in  the  price  of 
bread  stuffs  and  making  it  exceedingly  difficult  for  the  peasants 


u  Madison  Enquirer,  Oct.  26,  1839. 

15  See  references  in  note  13  above. 

16Rahr,  German  Immigration,  14  (MS.  Thesis,  University  of  Wisconsin,  1903). 

17  Niles'  Register,  68,  145. 

"Eahr,  German  Immigration,  15  (MS.  Thesis,  University  of  Wisconsin  1903). 

[208] 


POOLEY— SETTLEMENT    OF    ILLINOIS,    1830-50  495 

to  gain  a  livelihood.  The  severity  of  the  famine  increased  in 
184619  and  the  cold  winter  following  added  misery  to  the  lot 
of  the  peasants.  In  many  places  the  wealthy  class  was  com- 
pelled to  provide  for  the  poor,  to  keep  them  from  starving.20 

During  these  years  the  agents  of  transportation  companies 
were  busy  among  the  people.  They  were  well  dressed  and  well 
supplied  with  money  and  told  wondrous  stories  of  wealth  to 
be  easily  acquired  in  America,  of  political  freedom,  Tight  taxes 
and  easy  government. 

Resulting  from  these  influences  were  such  ventures  as  the 
Geissner  Gesellscliaft  which  had  a  plan  to  organize  a  German^  _, 
community  in  America  as  a  state  of  the  Union  while  retaining 
its  German  characteristics.21  Besides  the  organized  colonies 
which  emigrated  to  America,  thousands  of  Germans  came 
singly  or  in  groups  of  two  or  three  families  and  by  1850  there 
were  in  Illinois  over  38,000.22 

Before  1830  there  seem  to  have  been  few  communities  of 
Germans  in  the  state  but  in  the  following  years  a  rapid  increase 
took  place.  The  earliest  settlements  were  probably  at  Dutch  «, 
Hollow  in  St.  Clair  county  and  at  Vandalia  in  Fayette  county.23 
During  the  years  1831,  1832  and  1833  frequent  additions  were 
made  to  the  settlement  in  St.  Clair  county.  The  village  of 
Darmstadt  marks  the  location  of  a  colony  of  well-to-do  agri- 
culturists and  tradesmen  which  sprang  up  in  1832.  The  so- 
called  'immigration  of  1833'  brought  a  number  of  highly-edu- 
cated Germans  to  this  portion  of  the  state  giving  the  name 
Lateiner  settlement  to  the  community.  In  1837,  the  German  r-** 
settlers  formed  forty  per  cent,  of  the  population  of  the  town- 
ship.2* 

In  Effingham  county  on  the  southern  edge  of  the  prairie  dis- 
trict was  another  center  of  German  settlement.  A  stock  com- 
pany was  formed  by  some  Cincinnati  Germans  and  a  site  for 
a  town  was  selected  touching  on  the  National  Road  in  the 


19  Niles'  Register,  72,  392. 

20  The  Harbinger,  2,   287. 

11  KSrner,  Das  Deutaohe  Element,  300. 

22  Seventh  Census  (1850),  xxxvi. 

23  Davidson  and  Stuvfi,  Illinois,  349 ;  Kopfll,  S.,  and  Eggen,  J.,  Die  Schweiser- 
Eolonie    Highland    in    Illinois    In    Deutache-AmetUJcanische    GescMchts-Bl&tter, 
April-July,  1906. 

84  History  of  St.  CloAr  County,  64. 

14  [209] 


496  BULLETIN    OF    THE    UNIVERSITY    OF    WISCONSIN 

above  named  county.  The  first  settlers  came  in  1838, 25  and 
were  soon  joined  by  others  from  Cincinnati  and  Germany.  In 
1840  there  were  ninety  families  in  and  around  Teutopolis,  the 
most  important  settlement.28  In  the  nearby  townships  there 
were  scattered  German  settlements.27 

German  communities  were  scattered  here  and  there  along  the 
Illinois  river  before  1850.  One  of  the  early  settlements  began 
in  1833  in  Woodford  county  and  increased  steadily.28  Another 
German  community  was  established  in  Peoria  about  1835  ;29  it 
formed  almost  one-sixth  of  the  voting  population  of  the  town 
in1  1850.30  During  the  latter  half  of  the  thirties  a  considerable 
colony  congregated  at  Havana,  in  Mason  county.31  A  few  years 
later  another  settlement  of  Germans  began  at  Bath  in  the  same 
county.32  At  Perry  in  Pike  county  there  was  a  German  settle- 
ment of  some  importance  before  1850,33  and  in  La  Salle  county 
the  German  population  was  large  enough  to  support  three 
churches.34  It  appears  that  the  above  named  settlements  were 
not  the  result  of  colonies  organized  in  Germany,  but  that  the 
settlers  came  in  smaller  groups  from  the  older  settlements  at 
Cincinnati  and  St.  Louis.  After  the  political  troubles  in  Ger- 
many in  1848  the  German  population  was  generally  derived 
directly  from  Europe  and  the  increase  was  more  rapid. 

In  the  northeastern  and  northern  counties  of  the  state  the 
Germans  settled  more  frequently  than  in  the  southern  counties. 
Wishing  to  follow  agriculture,  they  were  attracted  by  the  rich 
prairie  lands  of  the  northern  and  eastern  part  of  the  state.  A 
convenient  line  of  communication  also  helped  to  turn  the  swarm 
of  immigrants  to  Chicago,  whence  it  scattered  over  the  surround- 
ing country.  Cook,  Lake,  Du  Page  and  Kane  counties  received 
German  settlers  in  numbers  sufficiently  large  nearly  to  crowd 


»Perrin,  History  of  Efflngham  County,  251. 

26 'Salsbacber,  Meine  Reise  nach  der  Vereinigten  Staaten,  229,  note  2. 

"  Perrin,  History  of  Efflngham  County,  147,  230. 

48  History  of  Wood-ford  County,  368. 

89  History  of  Peoria  County,  489. 

30  Deutsch-Amerikanteche  Geschichtsblatter,  Jan.,  1901,  22. 

81  History  of  Menard  and  Mason  Counties,  509. 

»7M<Z.,  576. 

43  History  of  Pike  County,  474. 

M  Baldwin,  History  of  La  Salle  County,  533. 

[210] 


POOLEY SETTLEMENT    OF    ILLINOIS,    1830-50  497 

out  the  original  settlers.  After  1848  the  numbers  increased 
rapidly,  especially  in  Kane  and  "Will  counties,  Aurora35  and 
Elgin36  in  the  former  county  being  the  chief  centers  of  German 
settlement.  The  settlements  in  Will  county  date  from  1846  and 
the  success  and  growth  of  the  communities  seems  due  to  the 
efforts  of  Conrad  Tatge.  During  the  years  immediately  fol- 
lowing, most  of  the  government  railroad  lands  were  bought  up 
by  Germans  and  soon  those  lands  held  by  speculators  also  came 
under  their  control.37 

In  the  Rock  river  valley  there  were  but  three  German  settle- 
ments of  any  importance  before  1850 — Oregon  in  Ogle  county,38 
Dixon  in  Lee  county,39  and  Freeport  in  Stephenson  county.40 
Of  these  Freeport  was  the  most  important;  foreigners  composed 
one-fourth  of  the  population  of  the  town  and  the  German  ele- 
ment was  by  far  the  most  numerous.  A  short  distance  north 
of  the  town'  was  another  community  of  Germans  located  in 
Ridott  township.41 

At  Galena  in  Jo  Daviess  county,42  Warsaw  in  Hancock  county4* 
and  Quincy44  and  Melrose45  in  Adams  county  were  the  chief 
German  communities  of  that  portion  of  the  state  bordering  on 
the  Mississippi  river.  The  settlements  were,  however,  not  large 
in  1850,  the  greater  part  of  the  present  German  population 
having  come  at  a  later  date. 

Other  settlements  of  Germans  in  all  probability  existed  in 
Illinois  but  since  mention  is  not  made  of  them  in  local  histories,, 
it  seems  safe  to-  conclude  that  in  1850  at  least,  they  were  of  no 
great  importance. 

As  a  class  the  Germans  were  desirable  settlers  owing  to  their 
quiet,  sober,  steady  habits,  their  ability  and  industry.  Those 


33  Past  and  Present  of  Kane  County,  236. 
38  Chicago  Republican,  Mar.  16,  1867. 

37  History  of  Will  County,  559. 

38  History  of  Ogle  County,  489. 

39  History  of  Lee  County,  177-185. 

40  Johnston,  Sketches  of  Stephenson  County,  94. 

41  History  of  Stephenson  County,  283. 

42  Rodolf,  Pioneering  in  the  Wisconsin  Lead  Region,  in  Wis.  Hist.  Collection*, 
15,  350. 

**  History  of  Hancock  County,  638. 

"Asbury,  Quincy,  103-106. 

**  History  of  Adams  County,  540. 

[211] 


498  BULLETIN    OF    THE    UNIVEKSITY    OF    WISCONSIN 

who  came  without  money  to  buy  land  hired  themselves  out  to 
landowners  and  were  contented  to  serve  as  laborers  until  they 
had  learned  the  industry  and  acquired  enough  capital  to  make 
purchases  for  themselves.  They  applied  themselves  to  the  cul- 
tivation of  the  soil,  not  as  adventurers  for  the  sake  of  experi- 
ment, but  as  farmers  who  meant  to  keep  possession  of  it.  They 
brought  with  them  the  same  patient  laborious  habits  which  had 
distinguished  them  in  their  native  land  and  as  a  consequence 
the  settlements  made,  while  retaining  the  characteristics  of  the 
fatherland  to  some  extent,  were  models  of  well-ordered  industry. 
The  head  of  the  family  worked,  the  children  worked  and  the 
women  worked,  too,  often  as  hard  as  the  men,  sharing  the  men's 
labors  in  the  fields;  for  the  German  'although  not  destitute  of 
romance  was  far  from  believing  that  women  were  made  only  to 

-*s fee  ornamental.'46  Following  this  rule  it  was  not  long  before 

each  of  these  German  families  owned  not  only  its  dwellings  but 
the  land  upon  which  they  stood. 

While  agricultural  in  their  tastes  the  Germans  were  often 
found  an  the  cities,  Chicago  especially  having  quite  a  large  Ger- 
man population.  It  will  be  remembered  that  many  of  the  early 
German  settlers  came  by  way  of  the  Great  Lakes,  landing  at 
Chicago.  Few  of  these  had  money  to  spare,  some  had  none  at 
all.  In  the  latter  case  they  were  unable  to  buy  land  but  the  in- 
dustries of  the  city  afforded  abundant  opportunities  for  mak- 
ing good  wages  and  many  a  German  remained  here  hoping  by 
thrift  soon  to  acquire  enough  capital  to  carry  out  his  pet  scheme 
-x •  — to  buy  a  farm.  Living  was  high_ in  the  city,  money  accumu- 
^^  lated  slowly,  land  rose  rapidly  in  value  and  the  would-be  farmer 
gradually  changed  to  a  city  man.  Others  came  and  the  tend- 
ency to  settle  together  manifesting  itself,  these  later  comers 
remained  with  their  countrymen  in  the  towns. 

In  politics  the  Germans  were  strongly  democratic,  even  tend- 
ing towards  socialism.  Their  leading  political  newspapers 
called  American  democracy  a  mongrel  affair.  They  were 
radical  on  questions  of  land  reform  and  often  led  observers  to 
believe  they  supported  communism,  apparently  denying  the 
right  of  private  property  and  suggesting  the  experiment  of  a 


"Atlantic  Monthly,  32,  463. 

[212] 


POOLEY SETTLEMENT    OF    ILLINOIS,    1830-50  499 

general  division  of  goods  among  the  people.  This  was  true 
especially  about  1850,  but  probably  did  not  fairly  represent  the 
feeling  of  the  great  body  of  Germans,  since  the  editors  of  that 
time  had  but  recently  come  from  the  revolutionary  scenes  of 
1848.47  However,  it  is  probable  that  in  spite  of  their  tendencies 
toward  radical  political  views  and  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  they 
attempted  to  an  extent,  at  least,  to  retain  the  customs  and  lan- 
guage of  their  native  land,  the  Germans  were  a  valuable  addi- 
tion to  the  population  of  the  state. 

Causes  for  Irish  immigration  are  not  difficult  to  find:  re- 
ligious troubles,48  oppressive  tithes,49  absentee  landlords,50  high 
rents,?1  poor  wages,52  poor  cultivation  of  the  soil,  famines.  The 
moral  degradation  and  lack  of  education  all  combined  to  make 
the  condition  of  the  Irish  peasant  one  of  abject  misery. 
Greatest  among  the  causes  were  crop  failures  and  famines. 
The  years  1831,  1835,  1836,  1837  and  1839  were  ones  of  partial 
crop  failure  and  the  .great  f  amine  of  1847  spread  misery  through- 
out the  entire  island.  It  is  reported  that  during  this  year  five 
and  one-half  millions  of  the  population  were  dependent  upon 
the  charity  of  the  rest  of  the  population — about  three  million 
in  number — for  food.53  Misery,  destitution  and  sickness  were 
prevalent  as  is  shown  by  the  writers  of  the  time,54  and  a  corres- 
ponding increase  of  Irish  immigration  to  America  resulted.65 

The  Irish  upon  landing  an  America  tended  to  remain  in  the 
eastern  cities,  becoming  day  laborers  or  factory  employes. 
When  they  left  the  cities  it  was  generally  to  find  work  upon  the 
lines  of  transportation  then  in  the  process  of  construction.  A 
very  small  number  devoted  themselves  to  agricultural  pur- 


47  Christian   Examiner,   51,    355' ;     Bruncken,   in   Wis.    Hist.    Soc.   Proceedings 
(1901),  190. 

48  Gilds'  Register,  4O,  406. 
*»  ni(J.,  406. 

«>  Dublin  Review,  1,  281-313  ;  15,  148-168  ;  317-363. 

51  American  Review,  6,  461,  $15-$25  per  acre. 

53  Fortnightly  Review,  8,  40. 

63  American  Review,  6,  637. 

M  Blackwoods,  64,  477 ;  British  Quarterly  Review,  6,  524  ;  Condon,  Irish  Race 
in  America,  302 ;  Madison  Express,  April  13,  1847.  (Extract  from  London  Her- 
ald. A  letter  written  by  a  Mr.  Shaw  then  in  Ireland)  ;  N  lies'  Register,  23,  5; 
38,  431 ;  4O,  455 ;  41,  379,  448 ;  Western  Journal  and  Civilian,  6,  247. 

65  Young,  Report  on  Immigration  (1872),  14,  reports  over  500,000  Irish  land- 
Ing  in  America  during  the  years,  1847,  1848,  1849  and  1850. 

[213] 


500  BULLETIN    OF    THE    UNIVEKSITY    OF    WISCONSIN 

suits  for  they  were  too  poor  to  acquire  land  and,  moreover,  the 
unpleasant  experiences  of  their  native  home  made  Irishmen 
skeptical  concerning  the  possibilities  of  returns  from  this  in- 
dustry. 

In  1850  there  were  almost  28,000  Irish  in  Illinois.56  There 
were  scattered  settlements  in  the  state  before  1830,  but  the  in- 
flux came  when  work  was  begun  on  the  Illinois  and  Michigan 
canal,  and  for  some  time  the  greater  portion  of  the  Irish  settle- 
ment of  the  state  lay  close  to  the  canal.  -  The  work  invited  large 
bodies  of  laborers  and  naturally  the  Irish  made  their  way  in 
considerable  numbers  from  the  seaboard-cities  to  this  district 
where  good  wages  and  steady  work  seemed  assured.57  They 
were  scattered  all  along  the  line,  two  hundred  or  more  being  at 
Peru58  and  La  Salle59  in  La  Salle  county,  some  in  Grundy 
county60  and  some  in  Will  county.61  In  Chicago  the  largest 
number  were  gathered,  there  being  almost  eight  hundred  Irish 
in  the  city  in  1843. '^  Nine  per  cent,  of  the  voters  of  Peoria  in 
1849  were  Irish.63  ^ 

The  course  of  events,  however,  operated  in  Illinois  to  change 
a  number  of  Irish  from  laborers  to  farmers'.  The  work  on  the 
canal  progressed  slowly  for  ten  yearsr-'  All  sorts  of  expedients 
were  resorted  to  by  the  state  authorities  to  sustain  the  work. 
When  money  was  no  longer  available  the  laborers  were  paid  off 
in  canal  scrip  which  in  consequence  trf  ~  the  growing  financial 
embarrassments  of  the  state  sank  a  great  deal  in  value  and  at 
times  was  scarcely  convertible  at  all.  Much  of  this  scrip  was 
converted  into  land,  "however,  and  wheri~work  on  the  canal  was 
for  the  time  abandoned  in  the  eaT4y~forti«s-isarLy-  of  the  Irish 
laborers  took  up  sections  of  land  iirthe  neighboring  counties,  or 
in  other  portions  of  the  state;  when  they^ould  be  obtained  town 
lots  were  taken.  As  a  consequence  the  farming-population  of 
that  part  of  the  state  immediately  "bordering  the  Illinois  river 


84  Seventh  Census   (1850),  xxxvi. 

57  Onahan,  Irish  Settlements  in  Illinois,  In  Catholic  World,  33,  357. 

68  Buckingham,  Eastern  and  Western  States,  3,  222. 

59  Baldwin,  History  of  La  Salle  County,  225-483. 

80  History  of  Grundy  county,  143. 

61  History  of  Will  county,  659-906. 

c2Norris  and  Gardiner,  Illinois  Annual  Register  (1847),  76. 

63  Ballance,  History  of  Peoria,  201. 

[214] 


POOLEY SETTLEMENT    OF    ILLINOIS,    1830~50  501 

from  Peoria  northward  and  along  the  Illinois-Michigan  canal 
is  composed  largely  of  Irish.  Some  Irish  farmers  are  also 
found  as  far  north  as  McHenry  county.64 

In  Monroe  county  an  Irish  settlement  began  in  1844  and  be- 
fore the  elapse  of  a  decade  more  than  three  hundred  families 
had  congregated  in  this  portion  of  the  state.65  At  Dixon  in 
Lee  county,66  at  Quincy  in  Adams  county67  and  at  Galena  in 
the  lead  region68  were  communities  of  Irish  but  they  were  not 
large. 

As  a  class  the  Irish  sptfjprs  were  not  so  desirable  as1  were  the 

—  f  -i  — 

Germans.     Their  poverty,  their  faith  and^Eetr  earty  e«. 

made  their  immediate  assimilation  into  the  population  of  the 
state  impossible.60  Their  mission  in  the  early  days  seems  to  have 
been  the  construction  of  the  internal  improvements  of  the  state. 
By  their  native  adaptability  to  new  surroundings  the  Irish 
seemed  best  fitted  for  city  life  and  many  settled  in  the  cities, 
especially  in  Chicago.  In  speaking  of  the  Irish  settler  a  writer 
of  the  time  says:  "His  weakness  lies  in  success  .  .  .  for 
with  ten  dollars  in  his  pocket  he  is  abashed>JDy  nothing  in 
Heaven,  earth  or  Chicago."70 

From  Tfoglanrj^  also  there  came  many  immigrants  and  for 
reasons  similar  to  those  causing  the  Irish  immigration.  Agri- 
cultural and  industrial  depression,  enormous  tithes,  heavy  taxes, 
poor  wages  and  poor  cultivation  of  the  soil  made  the  lot  of  the 
peasant  class  a  hard  one.  Periods  of  rash  speculation  were 
followed  by  commercial  crises  which  added  their  influence  to 
that  already  operating  to  injure  the  peasant  class  and  to  in- 
crease dissatisfaction. 

During  the  early  thirties  a  general  depression  existed. 
"Landlords  with  mortgages  or  rent  charges  were  ruined,  tenants 
farming  on  borrowed  capital  became  parish  paupers,  bankrupt- 
cies, seizures,  executions  and  imprisonments  for  debt  were  prev- 


MOnahan,  Irish  Settlements  in  Illinois,  in  Catholic  World,  33,  159-160. 

85  Reynolds,  Illinois,  183.. 

66  History  of  Lee  County,  117-185. 

47  Asbury,  Quincg,  103-106. 

48  Reynolds,  Illinois,  168;  Murray,  Trarels  in  North  America    (1854),  2,  129. 

69  Metropolitan,  4,  721. 

70  Putnam's  Magazine,  4,  628. 

[215] 


502  BULLETIN    OF    THE    UNIVERSITY    OF    WISCONSIN 

alent;  rents  fell  into  arrears,  tithes  and  poor  rates  remained 
unpaid;  labor  bi]ls  were  reduced  and  improvements  discon- 
tinued.'>T1  Wages  were  exceedingly  low,72  artisans  and  farm 
hands  sharing  alike  in  the  poor  returns  to  labor.  Tithes  were 
exorbitant73  and  the  taxes  were  equally  heavy.74 

The  results  of  these  conditions  soon  showed  themselves  in 
riots  of  a  serious  nature  partly  aimed  at  the  wealthy  classes 
and  the  clergy  and  partly  to  break  up  the  new  industrial  devel- 
opment which  had  come  with  the  introduction  of  machinery.75 
For  a  time  reform  legislation  allayed  the  trouble  but  riots  and 
disturbances  broke  out  anew  during  the  closing  years  of  the 
decade  1831  to  1841,  and  continued  till  1844. 

With  each  renewed  agitation  the  number  of  emigrants  in- 
creased. Farmers',  wishing  better  returns  for  their  labor,  ar- 
tisans and  professional  men  began  to  leave  the  country.76  Clergy- 
men urged  their  parishioners  to  emigrate  to  America  where 
wages  were  good.77  The  London  Roman  Catholic  Emigration 
Society  hastened  to  complete  preparations  whereby  various 
parties,  each  with  its  clergyman  at  its  head  might  find  new 
homes  in  America.78  New  agitations  by  the  trade  unions  and 
the  Chartists  broke  out  to  swell  the  numbers  already  crossing 
the  ocean.  In  fact  "there  probably  never  was  a  nation  to  which 
emigration  on  a  great  scale  was  more  urgently  suggested  than 
to  England  in  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth  century."79  Al- 
though her  wealth  was  increasing  rapidly,  so  too  was1  her  popula- 
tion and  the  field  for  employment  was  constantly  being  confined 
to  narrower  limits,  profits  were  diminished,  rates  of  interest 
reduced  and  the  ranks  of  the  uneasy  class  were  being  constantly 


"Tralll,  Social  England,  6,  211. 

72  Farm  laborers  received  nine  shillings  per  week,  in  haying  time  a  trifle  more. 
(Nilcs'  Register,  39,  454)  ;  annual  wages  amounted  to  from  twenty  to  twenty- 
one  pounds  for  farm  laborers,   (Ibid.,  41,  321)  ;  artisans'  wages  were  from  fifty 
to  sixty  cents  per  week.      (Ibid.,  42,  124.) 

73  In  England  6,000,000  parishioners  paid   £8,896,000  tithes  while  198,000,000 
in  other  parts  of  the  world  paid  but  £8,852,000.     (Nilcs'  Register,  4O,  160.) 

74  Family  Magazine,  6,  416. 

"Traill,  Social  England,  6,  211.     Niles'  Register,  39,  454-456. 

76  fines'  Register,  O2,  400;  North  British  Review,  18,  262. 

77  Placards  posted  throughout  the  country  said  that  laboring  men  in  America 
received  from  three  to  four  dollars  per  day.     (The  New  Yorker,  June  17,  1837.) 

78  Madison  Express,  June  1,  1843. 
•"North  British  Review,  18,  259. 

[216] 


POOLEY SETTLEMENT    OF    ILLINOIS,    1830-50  503 

augmented.  During  the  years  1845-1847  emigration  to  the 
United  States  doubled,  which  shows  the  dissatisfaction  with 
conditions  existing  in  the  kingdom.80 

Of  this  immigration  a  portion  came  west  and  in  1850  there 
were  18,600  English  settlers  in  Illinois.81  Settlements  were 
made  early  at  Albion,82  Carlyle83  and  Prairie  du  Long.8* 

Shortly  after  the  opening  of  the  lead  mines  the  Cornish  began 
to  settle  there  and  grew  rapidly  in  numbers.85  At  Nauvoo  dur- 
ing the  days  of  Joseph  Smith  a  great  number  of  English  con- 
gregated. Missionaries  sent  to  England  by  the  Prophet  never 
returned  without  a  band  of  converts.  In  1840  the  first  band 
came86  and  by  1844  it  was  estimated  that  of  16,000  saints  then 
in  and  around  Nauvoo,  10,000  were  English.87  Other  settle- 
ments of  less  note  were  scattered  over  the  state.88 

As  a  class  the  English  did  not  make  good  prairie  pioneers  for 
they  knew  little  of  agriculture  as  it  was  carried  on  in  the  great 
western  country,  and  of  all  immigrants  they  experienced  the 
most  difficulty  in  settling  down  and  yielding  themselves  to  the 
conditions  of  a  new  country.  Their  minds  were  hampered  with 
prejudices  in  favor  of  the  customs  and  habits  of  the  mother 
country,  which,  combined  with  the  lack  of  those  qualities  which 
make  good  pioneers,  kept  the  English  from  being  classed  with 
the  successful  settlers  of  the  new  country.89 


oung,  Report  on  Immigration  (1872),  12. 

81  Seventh  Census  (1850),  xxxvi. 

82  Flower,  English  Settlements  in  Edwards  Co.  III.,  147. 

83  ibid.,   1(53. 

84  Davidson  and  Stuv6,  Illinois,  349. 

85  Copeland,  The  Cornish  in  Southwestern  Wisconsin,  in  Wis.  Hist.  Collections, 
14,  305. 

86  Smith  and  Smith,  Latter  Day  Saints,  2,  450. 

87  Lewis,  Impressions   of  America,   265.     See   also   Beadle,   Life  in   Utah,   59 ; 
Cincinnati  Chronicle,  Au£.  26,  1840 ;  Kennedy,  Early  Days  of  Mormonism,  219  ; 
Neto  York  Weekly  Herald,  April  9,  1842  ;  Niles'    Register,   69,    144  ;    6O,    304  r 
63,  400  ;  64,  96. 

88  Settlements   were    made    at:     Rockton,    Winnebago   county    (Carr,    Rockton, 
16)  ;  Butler's  Point,   Vermilion  county   (Beckwith,   Vermilion  Co.,  640)  ;  Dixon, 
Lee  county  (History  of  Lee  County,  177-185)  ;  La  Salle,  La  Salle  county  (Bald- 
win, La  Salle  County,  225-483)  ;  Peoria    (Ballance,    History    of    Peoria,    201)  ;. 
Ridoft  township,  Stephenson  county   (History  of  Stephenson  County,  268)  ;  Will- 
county    (History    of    Will    County,    659-906)  ;    McHenry    countjy     (History    of 
McHenry  County,  637). 

atrobe,  The  Rambler  in  Xoith  America,  2,  163. 


8°is 


[217] 


BULLETIN    OF    THE    UNIVERSITY    OF    WISCONSIN 

Economic  causes  operated  in  Scotland  after  1830  to  cause 
emigration.  The  growth  of  the  wool  industry  compelled  many 
of  the  peasant  class  to  leave  the  country  during  the  decade  1831- 
1840.90  The  famine  of  1847  rendered  many  others  destitute  and 
aided  in  increasing  emigration.91  In  1834  they  began  to  come 
to  Illinois  and  formed  little  settlements  throughout  that  part 
of  the  state  north  of  Peoria.92  By  1850  there  were  4,660  Scotch 
in  Illinois.03  As  citizens  in  the  new  country  they  wer&  well 
thought  of  on  account  of  their  frugality,  sobriety  and  industry. 
As  agriculturists  they  ranked  high,  it  being  estimated  that  seven 
of  every  twelve  families  succeeded.94 

SjCjnJinavian  immigration  to  the  United  States  was  slight  in- 
deed before  1830  But  by  1850  there  were  settled  in  Illinois  some 
3,500  people  of  this  nationality.95  The  first  Norwegians  settling 
in  Illinois  came  from  New  York  in  1834.98  They  settled  at 
La  Salle  and  Ottawa  and  at  other  points  in  the  Fox  river  val- 
ley.97 The  most  interesting  Scandinavian  settlement  in  the 
state  was  the  Bishop  Hill  Colony  in  Henry  county.  Owing  to 
religious  difficulties  at  home  five  hundred  left  for  America  in 
1846  and  settled  in  the  above  named  county.  By  1848  the  set- 
tlement numbered  1,200  souls  and  continued  to  flourish  for  some 
years  after  1850.98  Various  other  settlements  were  scattered 
about  the  state  at  this  date.99 


*>Niles'  Register,  4O,  93. 

81  Littel's  Living  Age,  13,  97. 

02  Settlements  were  made  at :  Argyle,  Wlnnebago  county  (History  of  Winne- 
County,  454)  ;  Dundee,  Kane  county  (History  of  Kane  County,  230).:  Will 
county  (History  of  Will  County,  242,  659-906)  ;  La  Salle  county  (Baldwin,  La 
Salle  County,  225-483)  ;  Peoria  (Ballance,  Peoria,  201). 

83  Seventh  Census   (1850),  xxxvt. 

9*  Collins,  Emigrants'  Guide,  77. 

85  Seventh  Census  (1850),  xxxvi. 

00  Baldwin,  La  Salle  County,  164. 

97  Historical  Magazine,  2,  202. 

98  Mikkelson,  Bishop  Hill  Colony,  in  Johns  Hopkins   University  Studies,  10  j 
Bigelow,  Bishop  Hill  Colony,  in  Transactions  ot  the  Illinois  Historical  Society, 
(1902)  ;  Niles'  Register,  72,  260;  Bremer,  Homes  of  the  New  World;  2,  67. 

68  Beaver  Creek,  Iroquois  county  (Anderson,  Norwegian  Immigration,  200,  and 
Nelson,  Scandinavians  in  the  United  States,  1,  129)  ;  Rock  Run,  Stephenson 
county,  (/bid.,  1,  132 ;  History  of  Stephenson  County,  255)  ;  Nettle  Creek, 
Grundy  county  (History  of  Orundy  County,  287)  ;  Mercer  county  (Reynolds,  Illi- 
nois, 183)  ;  Lee  county  (History  of  Lee  County,  767)(:  Princeton,  Bureau  county, 
(Taxpayers  and  Voters  of  Bureau  County,  133)  ;  Andover,  Henry  county  (Nel- 
son, Scandinavians  in  the  United  States,  1,  217)  ;  Moline,  Rock  Island  countj 
(Tbid.,  1,  217)  ;  Galesburg,  Knox  county  (IWd.,  1,  217). 

[218] 


POOLEY SETTLEMENT    OF    ILLINOIS,    1830-50  505 

French,  Swiss,  Portuguese,,  Poles,  Welsh^panish,  Belgians, 
Dutch,  Italians,  Austrians,  Danes,  Greeks,  Mexicans,  West  In- 
dians, Hawaiians,  South  Americans  and  even  Chinese  were  rep- 
resented in  Illinois  in  1850.100  Of  these  nationalities  the  French 
were  the  most  numerous.  When  the  Americans  first  came  to 
Illinois  the  French  settlements  along  the  American  Bottom  and 
at  Peoria  were  practically  the  only  ones  in  the  territory.  The 
Americans  with  their  new  ways  and  ideas  of  government  and 
law  caused  such  wonder  and  even  distrust  among  this  simple 
people  that  many  moved  away.  Those  remaining  assumed  by 
degrees  the  American  manners  and  language,  but  became  of 
less  importance  politically  and  socially  as  the  American  settlers 
increased  in  number.  Few  indeed  were  the  French  immigrants 
before  1830  and  at  no  time  during  our  period  did  the  annual  im- 
migration to  the  United  States  number  10,000  save  in  the  years 
1846  and  1847.101  During  the  early  days  in  the  northern  part 
of  the  state  lone  French-Canadian  cabins  were  often  found 
along  the  rivers,  inhabited  by  traders  in  the  employ  of  the 
American  Fur  Company. 

The  first  French  colony  of  any  importance  to  be  established 
in  Illinois  after  1830  was  at  Metamora,  Woodford  county,  in 
1831.102  In  1837  another  was  established  by  the  Piquet  brothers 
at  Saint  Marie,  Jasper  county.  The  colony  numbered  twenty- 
five  persons  and  owned  12,000  acres  of  land.103  An  interesting 
colony  of  French  was  located  in  Hancock  county  where  three 
hundred  followers  of  Cabet  lived  in  the  old  Mormon  town  of 
Nauvoo.  Coming  to  Illinois  in  1849  they  remained  there  for 
several  years  seemingly  enjoying  prosperity  but  internal  troubles 
finally  broke  up  the  settlement.104  In  Kankakee  county  there 
was  a  cluster  of  French-Canadian  settlements,  chief  among 
which  was  Bourbonnais,  which  had  a  population  of  1,719  in 
1850.105  Here  the  old  Canadian  customs  were  maintained  for 


1M  Seventh  Census   (1850),  xxxvi. 

101  Young,  Report  on  Immigration   (1872),   12-10. 

102  History  of  Woodford  County,  268,  368. 

103  History  of  Cumberland,  Jasper  and  Richland  Counties,  484. 

104  Iceynolds,    Illinois,    372 ;    Open   Court,    August    28, '  1890 ;    Hinds,    American 
Communities;  Shaw,  Icaria ;  Hillquit,  Socialism  in  the  United  States. 

108  Seventh  Census   (1850),  xxxvi;  Campbell,  Bourbonnais  In  Transactions  of 
the  Illinois  State  Historical  Society,  (1906). 

[219] 


506 

years.  The  other  settlements  in  the  state  were  of  lesser  im- 
portance.106 

Swiss  settlements  in  the  state  were  few.  A  general  business 
stagnation  in  1844  caused  a  considerable  number  of  Swiss  to- 
leave  their  native  land.107  In  1815  a  Swiss  colony  from  Neuf- 
chatel  had  established  itself  at  Dutch  Hill  in  St.  Clair  county.108 
A  portion  of  Lord  Selkirk's  Red  River  colony  settled  at  Galena 
in  1826.109  In  Madison  county  near  Highland  another  colony 
was  begun  in  1831.  It  grew  slowly  until  1844  when  over  one 
hundred  colonists  were  added  making  it  the  most  important 
center  of  Swiss  settlement  in  the  state.110 

Two  Portuguese  colonies,  one  near  Springfield  and  one  near 
Jacksonville  were  interesting  additions  to  the  population  of 
Illinois  in  1849.  Exiled  from  the  island  of  Madiera  in  184T 
owing  to  religious  differences  with  the  Catholic  rulers,  they 
landed  on  the  island  of  Trinidad,  from  which  a  number  came  to 
the  United  States  subsequently  settling  in  Illinois.  It  is  diffi- 
cult to  state  the  number  of  people  composing  the  colonies  ac- 
curately.111 

Of  other  nationalities  but  few  representatives  were  in  the 
state.  A  Polish  settlement  was  planned  early  in  the  thirties  and 
a  grant  of  land  obtained  on  the  Rock  river,  but  the  colony  never 
materialized.  There  'were,  however,  a  few  Poles  in  the  state.112 
In  Kane  county  a  considerable  Welsh  population  grew  up  after 


106  Settlements  were  made  at:  Peoria  (Ballance,  Peoria,  201);  Dixon,  Lee 
county  (History  of  Lee  County,  117-185)  ;  Rockton,  Wirinebago  county  (Carr, 
Rockton,  16)  ;  Will  county  (History  of  Will  County,  659-906)  ;  Iroquois  county 
(Beckwith,  Iroquois  County,  336). 

10'  Luchsinger,  New  Glarus,  in  Wis.  Hist.  Collections,  12,  340. 

108  History  of  St.  Clair  County,  62. 

109  Chetlaln,  Recollection*  of  Seventy  Tears,  6. 

110  Steinach,  Schweiser  Kolonien,  248,  Newbauer,  Miss.,  The  Suites  Settlements 
in  Madison  county,  Illinois  in  Transactions  of  the  Illinois  State  Historical  So- 
ciety,  (1906). 

111  Number  placed  at  forty-two   (Seventh  Census    (1850),   xxxvi,)   History  of 
Sangamon  County,  578,  says,  "On  the  19th  of  October,  1849,  nearly  three  hundred 
left  New  York  for  their  new  homes  in  Illinois"  ;  Reynolds,  Illinois,  183,  "I  presume 
the  whole  would  amount  to  five  or  six  hundred  souls"  ;   Deutsch-Amerikanischd 
QeschichtjsWatter,  Jan.  1,  1904,  32,  "Und  von1  dort  wurden  in  Jahre  1849  gegen^ 
300     .      .      .     nach  Illinois  gebracht." 

112  Beckwith,  Vermilion  County,  763. 


[220] 


POOLEY SETTLEMENT    OF    ILLINOIS,    1830-50  507 

1836.113  Chicago  had  a  colony  of  Bavarian  Jews.114  and  prob- 
ably in  this  city  could  have  been  found  the  few  Mexicans,  Ital- 
ians, Austrians  and  others  which  are  enumerated  in  the  census 
of  1850. 

To  the  influence  of  cheap  land  and  easy  communication,  it 
seems,  can  be  traced  the  cause  for  the  foreign  population  of 
northern  Illinois.  When  immigration  from  European  countries 
had  reached  large  numbers  the  lakes  were  navigated  by  steam 
and  afforded  easy  access  to  the  ulterior  of  the  continent.  As 
a  general  rule  the  immigrants  were  of  the  lower  classes  of 
European  society  and  had  little  money  to  spend.  Those  who 
wished  to  become  farmers  needed  land,  and  lack  of  money 
necessitated  cheap  land,  which  lay  in  the  West.  The  great 
port  at  the  end  of  the  lakes  was  Chicago,  the  doorway  to  the 
prairies  where  government  lands  could  be  had  in  abundance 
at  exceedingly  low  prices.  Towards  this  city  the  immigrant 
made  his  way  as  an  examination  of  the  population  of  the  coun- 
ties around  Chicago  will  show. 

Other  influences  were  probably  at  work  also.  The  greater 
part  of  the  immigration  to  the  United  States  was  from  north- 
ern Europe  and  in  the  minds  of  the  people  was  a  well  grounded 
dislike  for  the  institution  of  slavery  owing  to  the  competition 
arising  from  it  ;in  fields  of  labor.  To  this  influence  can  be  at- 
tributed the  fact  that  little  of  the  cheap  land  of  the  Southwest 
was  taken  up  by  foreigners.  The  climate  may  also  have  oper- 
ated to  turn  the  stream  of  immigration  northward,  for  in  the 
northern  states  was  found  a  climate  more  nearly  corresponding 
to  that  of  northern  Europe  and  consequently  more  to  the  liking 
of  the  immigrants,  for  here  crops  could  be  raised  similar  to 
those  raised  at  home 


113  History  of  Kane  County,  228. 

114  Historical  Magazine,  7,  346. 


[221] 


508  BULLETIN    OF    THE    UNIVERSITY    OF    WISCONSIN 


CHAPTER  XII 


The  decade  1841-50  in  the  history  of  Illinois  settlement  is 
particularly  and  peculiarly  interesting  owing  to  the  foundation 
of  several  settlements,  within  the  limits  of  the  state,  whose  im- 
pelling motive  was  either  religion  or  a  desire  to  build  up  a  new 
and  reformed  social  structure.  First  in  order  of  time  came  the 
Mormons,  a  sect  believing  themselves  thoroughly  imbued  with 
the  true  religion  and  wishing,  by  taking  up  their  abodes  within 
the  limits  of  friendly  Illinois,  to  escape  the  persecution  which 
had  followed  them  from  place  to  place. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  speak  of  the  doctrines  of  the  Mormon 
church  which  have  made  this  institution  a  source  of  suspicion 
and  distrust  to  society  in  general  and  of  hatred  to  those  who 
have  come  into  direct  opposition  to  its  members.  Of  its  early 
history  little  need  be  said  save  that  after  the  discovery  of  the 
Golden  Plates  by  Joseph  Smith  the  prophet,  the  church  grew 
with  rapidity.  A  permanent  settlement  was  not  to  be  founded 
however,  since  the  people  who  were  compelled  to  live  as  neighbors 
of  the  Latter  Day  Saints  looked  upon  them  with  a  feeling  of 
aversion. 

First  settling  in  Ohio,  they  afterwards  moved  to  Missouri 
where  they  lived  in  peace  for  a  short  space  of  time.  Here  again, 
after  accumulating  much  property  and  bringing  their  lands  to 
a  high  state  of  cultivation,  they  were  driven  from  their  homes1 
by  the  Missourians,  who,  incensed  by  thefts  and  robberies  com- 
mitted in  the  neighborhood  of  the  Mormon  colony,  did  not  stop 
to  inquire  into  causes  or  to  seek  out  the  guilty  ones  but  in  the 
midst  of  the  winter  of  1838-39  fell  upon  the  settlement  and  ex- 
pelled the  whole  church  from  the  state.  In  the  dead  of  winter, 

[222] 


POOLEY SETTLEMENT    OF    ILLINOIS,    1830-50  509 

suffering  from  hunger,  cold  and  sickness,  numerous  families  set 
out  on  foot  walking  the  entire  distance  to  Illinois.1  Others,  by 
virtue  of  a  treaty  made  with  the  men  of  Missouri,  were  allowed 
to  stay  until  spring.  They  offered  their  lands  for  sale  a±  small 
prices  and  even  bartered  farms  for  wagons  and  teams2  by  means 
of  which  to  convey  their  families  out  of  the  state. 

In  the  spring  of  1839,  the  main  body  of  the  Saints  arrived 
in  Illinois  where  they  told  tales  of  persecution  and  privation 
which,  linked  with  the  spectacle  of  utter  destitution  and  wretch- 
edness which  they  presented  upon  arriving,  awakened  the  warm- 
est sympathy  among  the  citizens3  of  Hancock  county  where  they 
landed.  Great  hospitality  and  kindness  were  shown  them  by 
the  Illinoisans. 

The  town  of  Venus,  later  called  Commerce,  containing  a  few 
hundred  inhabitants,*  and  occupying  one  of  the  most  beauti- 
ful sites  on  the  Mississippi  river  was  the  destination  of  the 
Mormon  emigrants.  Here  they  settled  to  the  number  of  5,0005 
and  changing  the  name  of  Commerce  to  Nauvoo,  which,  accord- 
ing to  the  Prophet  means  in  the  Hebrew  "the  beautiful,"  they 
began  to  build  their  habitations.  They  were  soon  located  at 
different  points  all  over  Hancock  county  and  to  some  extent 
through  the  adjoining  counties  of  Pike,  Schuyler,  McDonough, 
Henderson  and  Warren.  The  largest  settlements  outside  of 
Nauvoo  were  at  LaHarpe,  Plymouth,  Macedonia,  Green  Plains 
and  Montebello — all  in  Hancock  county.6  Besides  land  pur- 
chased in  Illinois,  additional  purchases  were  made  in  Iowa  terri- 
tory just  across  the  river.  Together  the  total  amount  of  land 
purchased  was  about  $70,000  in  value.7  On  the  Iowa  side  of 
the  river  some  2,000  people  (were  located.8 

"With  almost  incredible  rapidity  the  town  of  Nauvoo  sprang 


1  Smith  and  Smith,  Hist,  of  the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ  and  of  the  Latter  Day 
Saints,  2,  340. 

*IUd.,  2,  340. 

3  Bennett,  History  of  the  Saints,  139. 

*  Overland  Monthly,  1C,  N.  S.,  G20. 

5  Buckingham,  Eastern  and  Western  States,  3,  193.  For  illustrations  of 
Nauvoo  see  Berry,  The  Mormon  Settlement  in  Illinois  in  Transactions  of  tftW 
Illinois  State  Historical  Society,  (1906). 

u  Gregg,  The  Prophet  of  Palmyra,  156. 


8  Cincinnati  Chronicle,  Aug.  26,  1840. 

[223] 


•510  BULLETIN    OF    THE    UNIVERSITY    OF    WISCONSIN 

up.  By  May,  1840,  about  three  hundred  dwellings  had  been 
erected.9  These  were  block  houses,10  small  wooden  dwellings,11 
and  occasional  structures  of  more  imposing  size  and  appear- 
ance.12 Many  more  were  in  the  process  of  construction.  The 
city  was  laid  out  with  geometrical  exactness.  In  dimension,  it 
was  four  miles  in  length  and  three  in  breadth,13  filling  up  the 
.semicircular  bend  made  by  the  river.  The  streets  were  wide, 
.crossing  each  other  at  right  angles14  forming  squares  having 
.an  area  of  four  acres  each.  These  squares  were  subdivided  into 
four  lots  of  an  acre  each.15  In  the  center  of  the  city  was  the 
Temple  Block. 

At  the  time  of  the  coming  of  the  Mormons,  two  political  par- 
ties 'were  contending  for  supremacy  in  the  state  and  the  ad- 
vent of  so  many  voters  necessitated  the  party  leaders  taking 
steps  to  gain  control  of  the  new  vote  and  consequently  each  vied 
with  the  other  in  its  efforts  to  conciliate  the  Saints.16  Just  previ- 
ous to  the  election  of  1840,  the  politicians  crowded  around  the 
Prophet  offering  various  inducements,  but  Smith,  who  was  a 
shrewd  man,  if  nothing  else,  wisely  kept  from  giving  pledges 
:'to  either  side  until  his  price  was  offered.17 

The  price  asked  and  given  proved  to  be  a  high  one  and  one 
which  was  to  cause  the  citizens  of  the  surrounding  country  as 
well  as  the  state  officers  much  trouble  before  many  years  had 
passed.  Charters  for  the  city  of  Nauvoo;  for  the  Nauvoo  Le- 
.gion,  a  military  organization  wholly  under  the  control  of  the 
city  but  nominally  part  of  the  Illinois  militia;  for  the  Nauvoo 
University,  and  for  manufacturing  purposes  was  the  price.18 
'The  Whig  party,  believing  the  price  satisfactory,  signified  its 
willingness  to  pay  it  and  the  Mormons  at  the  command  of  their 
leader  cast  a  solid  Whig  vote,  cutting  down  the  Democratic 


*Niles'  Register,  58,  192. 

10  Smith  and  Smith.  Latter  Day  Saints,  2,  450. 

11  Kennedy,  Early  Days  of  Mormonism,  200. 

12  Ibid. 

13  IUd. 

"  Smucker,  History  of  the  Mormons,  158. 

15  Overland  Monthly,  1«,  N.  S.,  620. 

*«  Amberley,  The  Latter  Day  Saints  in.  Fortnightly  Review,  12,  52ft, 

"  Kennedy,  Early  Days  of  Mormonism,  204. 

>M  Bennett,  History  of  the  Saints,  139. 


[224] 


POOLEY SETTLEMENT    OF    ILLINOIS,    1830-50  511 

majority  in  the  state  to  1,900,  the  lowest  it  had  ever  been  known 
to  be.19  The  charters  were  granted  at  the  meeting  of  the  state 
legislature. 

The  charter  to  the  city  granted  almost  unlimited  powers. 
It  established  a  government  within  a  government.20  It  placed 
the  legislative  power  of  the  city  in  the  hands  of  a  mayor,  a  vice- 
mayor,  four  aldermen  and  nine  counsellors.21  This  council,  the 
charter  said  "shall  have  power  and  authority  to  make,  ordain, 
•establish  and  execute  all  such  ordinances  not  repugnant  to  the 
constitution  of  the  United  States  or  this  state  as  they  may  deem 
necessary  for  the  peace,  benefit,  good  order,  regulation,  conven- 
ience and  cleanliness  of  the  city."22  This,  it  will  be  observed, 
did  not  bind  the  Mormon  council  to  observe  the  individual  laws 
of  the  state  and  they  could  claim  the  right  to  establish 
a  distinct  and  independent  code  of  laws  and  it  so  happened.23 
Jurisdiction  within  the  city  was  granted  to  a  municipal  court 
composed  of  the  mayor  acting  as  Chief  Justice  and  the  four 
aldermen  as  Associate  Justices.24 

A  power  as  great,  or-  even  greater,  was  conceded  in  the  char- 
ter for  the  Nauvoo  Legion.  This  was  a  military  body  composed 
of  divisions,  brigades,  cohorts,  regiments,  battalions  and  com- 
panies under  the  command  of  the  Prophet,25  and  at  the  disposal 
of  the  mayor  for  executive  purposes.  The  number  of  troops 
was  3,000.26  The  university  was  organized  with  a  President, 
a  Board  of  Regents  and  chairs  of  Mathematics,  English  Litera- 
ture, Languages,  Rhetoric  and  Belles  Letters,  and  Church  His- 
tory.27 

For  a  time,  the  power  granted  by  these  several  charters  was 
used  wisely  enough  and  Nauvoo  prospered,  but  the  plenitude  of 
power  was  too  much  for  those  in  command  and  it  was  abused 
eventually  when  the  authorities  of  the  city  went  so  far  as  to 


"Norris    and    Gardiner,   Illinois   Annual   Register  and    Western   Business    Di- 
rectory (1847),  40. 

20  Kennedy,  Early  Days  of  Mormonism,  209. 

21  ma.,  207. 

™IUd.,  206. 

23  Aniberley,  The  Latter  Day  Saints,  in  Fortnightly  Review,  12,  52G. 
u  Kennedy,  Early  Days  of  Mormonism,  207. 

25  IUd.,  208.  ^ 

28  Amberley,  The  Latter  Day  Saints,  in  Fortnightly  Review,  12,  526.^ 
2T  The  New  York  Weekly  Herald,  Jan.  15.  1842. 
15  [225] 


512  BULLETIN    OF    THE    UNIVERSITY    OF    WISCONSIN 

establish  a  recording  office  in  which  alone  transfers  of  land 
could  be  recorded.28  In  addition  to  this  an  office  for  the  issue 
of  marriage  licenses  was  established  which  was  in  direct  oppo- 
sition to  the  rights  of  Hancock  county.20  At  last  it  was  pre- 
sumed by  the  municipal  council  to  ask  that  the  mayor  be 
allowed  to  call  in  and  use  the  United  States  troops  whenever  he 
should  deem  it  necessary  for  the  protection  of  himself  or  fol- 
lowers.30 

Here,  in  the  powers  of  the  charters  granted  by  the  state  of 
Illinois  to  the  city  of  Nauvoo  lay  both  the  strength  and  weak- 
ness of  the  Mormon  government.  The  strength  was  due  to 
privileges  granted  which  allowed  the  feeling  of  security  to  the 
inhabitants  necessary  to  development;  the  weakness,  in  the 
jealousy  aroused  in  the  minds  of  the  citizens  of  the  surrounding 
country  due  to  the  rapid  advance  of  the  Mormons  in  wealth 
and  the  overbearing  attitude  arising  therefrom. 

Before  following  out  the  adverse  effects  of  the  charters  upon 
the  Mormon  Community,  a  glance  must  be  taken  at  the  rapid 
development  of  the  city  in  size  and  wealth.  The  latter  part  of 
1841  and  the  early  months  of  1842  may  be  regarded  as  the  high 
tide  of  Mormon  prosperity  in  Illinois, — "the  season  of  peace- 
ful sunshine  before  the  -storm."31  Great  improvements  were 
made  in  the  city  during  the  time.  Several  hundred  houses, 
some  of  them  brick  and  stone  were  erected,32  and  on  April  6, 
1841,  the  eleventh  anniversary  of  the  founding  of  the  church 
in  New  York,  the  cornerstone  of  the  Temple  was,1  laid  in  the 
presence  of  several  thousand  assembled  Saints.33  It  was  an 
imposing  structure  of  gray  limestone34  and  represented  on  out- 
lay of  $1,000,000.8S 

Industry  did  not  lag  in  the  meantime.     Sawmills  at  Nauvoo 


28  Kennedy,  Early  Days  of  Mormonism,  207. 


31  Ibid.,  221. 

82  Nauvoo  Times  and  Seasons,  Sept.  15,  1841. 

BS  Gregg,  The  PropTtet  of  Palmyra,  183. 

84  The  building  was  one  hundred  and  twenty  feet  by  eighty  feet  It  was 
sixty  feet  in  height  and  to  the  top  of  the  dome  measured  one  hundred  and  fifty 
feet.  (IUd.,  383.) 

KNew  York  Weekly  Tribune,  July  15,  1843.  Gregg  (383)  cites  an  estimate  of 
the  cost  at  $1,500,000,  which  he  says  is  an  exaggeration. 

[226] 


POOLEY SETTLEMENT    OF    ILLINOIS,,    1830-50  513 

and  Black  River  Falls36  in  Wisconsin  were  in  operation,  manu- 
facturing lumber  for  building  purposes.  A  steam  flour  mill, 
a  tool  factory,  a  foundry  and  a  factory  for  chinaware  were  in1 
busy  operation,  bearing  testimony  of  Mormon  industry.37  The 
city  also  owned  a  steamboat.38 

It  is  hard  to  fix  the  population  exactly  at  this  or  any  other 
date  during  the  colony's  stay  in  Illinois,  for  the  various  writ- 
ers seldom,  if  ever,  agree.  Estimates  of  the  population  of  Nau- 
voo  during  1841  vary  from  3,00039  given  by  the  Prophet  him- 
self to  10,000  given  by  a  later  writer.40  Probably  the  former 
is  nearer  the  correct  number.  Estimates  of  the  Mormon  popu- 
lation in  Nauvoo  the  next  year  show  similar  discrepancies. 
Agreeing  upon  one  point  alone,  that  the  growth  of  the  commun- 
ity was  wonderfully  rapid,  the  authors  proceed  to  place  the 
numbers  at  anywhere  from  5,00041  to  30,000.42  Here  again, 
fortunately,  we  have  an  estimate  made  by  a  Mormon  and  pub- 
lished in  the  Nauvoo  Times  and  Seasons,  which  places  the  popu- 
lation of  the  city  itself  at  10,000.43  Allowing  for  others 
scattered  through  the  towns  around  Nauvoo,  16,00044  may  be 
said  to  cover  the  entire  number. 

In  the  latter  half  of  1842,  Nauvoo  had  its  greatest  popula- 
tion. Not  only  had  the  Saints  from  Missouri  occupied  the  new 
city,  but  hundreds  from  all  over  the  country,  complying  with 
the  summons  of  the  Prophet  to  assemble  at  Nauvoo  and  aid  in 
the  construction  of  the  Temple  and  the  University,  turned  their 
faces  toward  the  home  of  the  church  and  hastened  to  take  up 
their  abodes  either  within  the  city  or  its  immediate  neighbor- 
hood.45 


3B  Brunson,  A  Western  Pioneer,  2,  168. 
37J£ennedv.  Early 


38  Ibid. 

39  Smith  and  Smith,  The  Latter  Day  Saints,  2,  501. 

40  Caswell,  The  Prophet  of  the  nineteenth  Century,  212. 
«  Gregg,  The  Prophet  of  Palmyra,  223. 

"The  New  fork  Herald,  June  17,   1843. 

43  The  New  York  Weekly  Herald,  Jan.  15,  1842  —  copied  from  The  Nauvoo  Times 
and  Seasons. 

44  Davidson   and   Stave1,  History  of  Illinois,  498  ;  New   York  Weekly   Tribune, 
July  15,  1843,  estimates  15,000  —  17,000;  Madison  City  Express,  July  27,  1843, 
copies  from  the  Burlington  Iowa  Gazette  and  estimates  15,000  to  17,000. 

48  Gregg,  The  Prophet  of  Palmyra,  162. 


[227] 


314  BULLETIN    OF    THE    UNIVERSITY    OF    WISCONSIN 

The  plans  of  Joseph  Smith  were  far-reaching  and  he  deter- 
mined that  the  sinners  of  other  lands  should  be  called  to  re- 
pentance. Elders  were  appointed  to  go  to  England,46  Scotland, 
Ireland  and  Nova  Scotia,  besides  others  who  were  to  spread  the 
new  doctrine  in  the  eastern  states,  Wisconsin  Territory  and 
Galena.47  Handsome  young  'women  were  chosen  also  to  aid  in 
the  missionary  work.48 

The  work  prospered,  especially  in  England,  from  which  place 
many  came  to  swell  the  congregation  at  Nauvoo.  On  June  6, 
1840,  a  colony  of  forty  emigrants  sailed  from  England,  under 
the  leadership  of  Elder  Moore.49  Three  months  later  the  Liver- 
pool Chronicle  mentions  the  sailing  of  a  packet  from  that  port 
having  on  board  two  hundred  steerage  passengers  belonging 
"to  a  sect  called  Latter  Day  Saints  and  bound  for  Quincy  in 
the  state  of  Michigan,  on  the  borders  of  the  Mississippi,  where 
&  settlement  has  been  provided  for  them  by  one  of  their  sect, 
who  has  purchased  a  large  tract  of  land  hi  Michigan."50 

Occasionally  newspapers  recorded  the  movement  of  these  col- 
onies to  Nauvoo.  The  Cincinnati  Chronicle,  evidently  mean- 
ing the  first  colony  mentioned,  speaks  of  thirty  Mormons  ar- 
riving in  that  city  by  keel-boat.51  They  had  split  into  two  par- 
ties at  Pittsburg  and  the  route  of  the  second  party  does  not 
seem  to  have  been  known  by  the  writer.  He,  however,  states 
that  another  party  of  the  same  sect,  (probably  the  larger  party 
which  left  in  September)  is  on  the  way  from  England  des- 
tined for  Nauvoo.  In  all  there  were  two  hundred  and  forty  who 
came  in  1840.52 

The  years  1841,  1842,  1843,  1844  and  1845  saw  additional 
converts  from  foreign  lands  come  to  dwell  under  the  direct 
guidance  of  the  Prophet.53  The  immigrants  generally  came  in 


«« Beadle,  Li;e  in  Utah,  59. 

"files'  Register,  64,  336. 

« IUd.,  63,  400. 

49  Smith  and  Smith,  The  Latter  Day  Saints,  2,  450 ;  Kennedy,  Early  Days  of 
Mormonism,  219,  states  the  colony  was  under  the  leadership  of  Brighaiii  Young. 

™Niles'  Register,  59,  144. 

M  Cincinnati  Chronicle,  Aug.  26,  1840. 

45  Kennedy,  Early  Days  of  Mormonism,  219. 

53  Smith  and  Smith,  The  Latter  Day  Saints  (3,  1)  give  the  following  figures: 
1841  (769)  ;  1842  (1991)  ;  1843  (769)  ;  1844  (501)  ;  Kennedy,  Early  Days  of 
Mormonism  (219),  gives:  1840  (240)  ;  1841  (1135)  ;  1842  (1614)  ;  1843  (769)  ; 
no  statistics  for  1844  and  1845. 

[228] 


POOLEY SETTLEMENT    OF    ILLINOIS,    1830-50  515 

large  colonies  numbering  sometimes  two,54  three55  or  even  five 
hundred56  souls.  They  landed  at  various  ports  from  Quebec57 
to  New  Orleans58  and  came  to  Nauvoo  either  by  way  of  the  Ohio 
or  Mississippi  river.  The  unanimous  opinion  of  people  coming 
in  contact  with  these  emigrants  on  their  way  to  the  West  was 
that  they  were  respectable  looking59  farmers  or  mechanics  and' 
by  no  means  from  the  lowest  classes  in  England,60  people  "who- 
would  make  good  settlers  if  they  were  free  from  the  infatua- 
tion of  Mormonism.  "G1 

This   constant  stream  of  immigration^  it  will  be  seen,   did 
much  towards  aiding  the  rapid  growth  of  Nauvoo  and  the  pe- 
culiarity worthy  of  most  attention  seems  to  be  that  by  far  the- 
greatest  number  of  foreign  converts  were  English.     One  writeiA  _- 
who  visited  Nauvoo  during  1844  says  that  "of  the  16,000  fol-J7 
lowers  assembled  at  Nauvoo,  10,000  are  said  to  be  from  Eng- 
land."62    The  other  foreigners  were  from  Germany  and  Scot- 
land. 

With  increase  of  numbers,  an  increase  of  prosperity  came  and' 
with  increased  prosperity,  more  effort  was  made  towards  beau- 
tifying the  city.  In  the  construction  of  houses  taste  was  showa 
and  often  evidences  of  wealth.63  The  work  on  the  temple- 
progressed  steadily,  additional  manufactures  were  added  to  the 
number  already  in  operation,  evincing  industry  and  economic- 
success.64  New  farms  were  enclosed,  the  land  was  put  under 
cultivation  and  a  general  air  of  success  pervaded  the  whole- 
neighborhood.65 

Nauvoo  impressed  visitors  in  various  ways.  One  visitor  int 
speaking  of  the  city  says,  "Such  a  collection  of  miserable- 


M  New  York  Weekly  Herald,  Apr.  9,  1842. 
55  Museum  of  Foreign  Literature,  45,  9.) 
Amies'  Register,  64,  96. 
w  IWd.,  60,  304. 

M  New  fork  Weekly  Herald,  Apr.   9,   1842 ;   Madison   City  Express,  Apr.   25r 
1844.      (From  St.  Louis  Era.) 

M  New  York  Weekly  Herald,  Apr.  9,  1842 ;  Cincinnati  Chronicle,  Aug.  26,  1840., 
00  Museum  of  Foreign  Literature,  45,  9. 

61  Madison  City  Express,  Apr.  25,  1844.     (From  The  St.  Louis  Era.) 
*2  Lewis,  Impressions  of  America  and  the  American  Churches,  265.V^~_ 
"Madison  City  Express,  July  27,  1843. 
64  Smucker^  JJisttnry  r>f  the   Mnrmons.  159. 
•»  Ibid. 

[229] 


516  BULLETIN"    OF    THE    UNIVERSITY    OF    WISCONSIN 

houses  and  hovels  I  could  not  have  believed  existed  in  one 
place."66 

Other  writers  who  have  visited  the  place  speak  more  highly 
of  it  and  some  with  marked  enthusiasm.     Among  these  a  cer- 
tain Mr.  Newhall,  who  visited  Nauvoo  in  the  autumn  of  1843, 
published  his  impressions  in  a  New  England  newspaper,  giving 
a  description  which  is  both  vivid  and  interesting.     He  says, 
"Instead  of  seeing  a  few  miserable  log  cabins  and  mud  hovels 
which  I  had  expected  to  find,  I  was  surprised  to  see  one  of  the 
most  romantic  places  that  I  had  visited   in  the  West.     The 
buildings,  though  many  of  them  were  small,  and  of  wood,  yet 
bore  marks  of  neatness  which  I  have  not  seen  equalled  in  this 
country.     The  far-spread  plain  at  the  bottom  of  the  hill  was 
dotted  over  with  the  habitations  of  men,  with  such  majestic 
profusion  that  I  was  almost  willing  to  believe  myself  mistaken, 
an'd  instead  of  being  in  Nauvoo  of  Illinois  among  Mormons, 
that  I  was  in  Italy  at  the  city  of  Leghorn  which  the  location  of 
Nauvoo  resembles  very  much.     I  gazed  for  sometime  with  fond 
admiration  on  the  plain  below.     Here   and  there  rose  a  tall 
majestic  brick  house,  speaking  loudly  of  genius  and  the  untir- 
ing labor  of  the  inhabitants.     I  passed  on  into  the  more  active 
parts  of  the  city  looking  into  every  street  and  lane  to  observe 
all  that  was  passing.     I  found  all  the  people  engaged  in  some 
useful   and   healthy   employment.     The   place   was   alive   with 
business — much  more  than  any  place  I  have  visited  since  the 
hard  times  commenced.     I  sought  in  vain  for  anything  that 
C  bore  marks  of  immorality  but  was  both  astonished  and  highly 
pleased  at  my  ill  success.     I  could  see  no  loungers  around  the 
streets  nor  any  drunkards  about  the  taverns.     I  did  not  meet 
with    those    distorted    features    of    ruffianism    or    with    the 
illbred  and  impudent.     I  heard  not  an  oath  in  the  place.     I 
saw  not  a  gloomy  countenance,  all  were  cheerful,  polite  and  in- 
dustrious. "67        From  this  description  we  may  conclude  that 
there  was  something  to  commend  in  Nauvoo  and  its  inhabitants, 
for  the  writer  had  visited  many  places  in  his  trip  through  the 


/"  87  Smucker,  History  of  the  Mormons,   152.    (Extract  from  the  Salem   (Mass.) 
Advertiser.) 

[230] 


POOLEY SETTLEMENT    OF    ILLINOIS,    1830-50  517 

West  and  had  had  abundant  opportunities  offered  for  compar- 
isons. 

The  newly  built  dwellings  of  the  rural  districts  around  Nau- 
voo  did  not  present  the  same  uniform  prosperity.  This  can  be 
explained  by  the  fact  that  these  farms  were  just  being  opened 
up  and  the  habitations  erected  upon  them  were  in  keeping  with 
the  general  character  of  pioneer  dwellings. 

Such  was  Nauvoo,  the  city  of  the  Latter  Day  Saints,  when  the 
storm  broke  over  them.  The  city  itself  was  the  largest  one  in 
Illinois,  having  in  1845  some  15,00008  inhabitants.  Next  to  St. 
Louis,  it  was  the  most  important  central  point  and  supply  de- 
pot of  the  western  territory.69  Some  families  had  left  by 
1844,  already  anticipating  a  visitation  similar  to  the  one  exper- 
ienced in  Missouri,  but  others  had  been  added  in  greater  num- 
bers to  take  their  places70  until  by  the  end  of  1844,  30,000  Mor- 
mons resided  in  Nauvoo  and  its  vicinity.71 

In  order  to  understand  the  expulsion  of  the  Mormons,  it 
is  necessary  to  return  to  the  early  history  of  the  settlement. 
Scarcely  had  the  Mormons  settled  in  Hancock  county  when 
trouble  arose.  Several  inhabitants  of  Shelby  county  became 
converts,  whereupon  a  mob  attacked  them.  The  Mormons  in 
retaliation  secured  warrants  from  Judge  Breese  calling  for  the 
arrest  of  fifteen  of  the  leaders,  but  the  militia,  when  called  upon 
to  assist  in  serving  the  warrants,  flatly  refused.72 

Little  by  little  the  opposition  grew,  quietly  at  first,  but 
turned  by  later  events  into  an  open  and  bitter  hostility.  The 
extraordinary  privileges  granted  by  the  charter73  to  Nauvoo 
were  instrumental  at  first  in  exciting  the  envy  and  distrust  of 
the  citizens  of  the  surrounding  country.  An  independent  mili- 
tary force  devoted  to  the  Prophet  and  the  right  claimed  by 
him  to  disregard  warrants  for  the  arrest  of  any  person  in  Nau- 
voo, if  issued  from  other  places,  seemed  more  than  the  people 
could  bear.  Moreover,  ,;the  political  party  which  had  not  re- 


68  Beadle,  Life  in  Utah,  134. 

89  Chicago  Tribune,  Mar.  6,  1886. 

70  Nauvoo  Times  and  Seasons,  5,  743. 

n  Smith  and  Smith,  Latter  Day  Saints,  3,  1. 

Amies'  Register,  56,  336. 

73  Amberley,  The  Latter  Day  Saints,  in  Fortnightly  Review,  12,  527. 

[231] 


518  BULLETIN    OF    THE    TJNIVEESITY    OF    WISCONSIN 

ceived  the  Mormon  vote  was  exasperated  and  combining  forces 
with  others,  incensed  by  different  causes,  they  conspired  against 
the  power  of  the  Saints.  On  December  9,  1842,  a  motion  was 
made  in  the  legislature  of  Illinois  to  repeal  the  charter.74 
Joseph  Smith's  brother,  at  that  time  a  member,  spoke  earnestly 
against  the  proceeding,  appealing  to  the  Locofoco  party  to 
sustain  his  city.  As  a  result  no  vote  was  taken  and  the  Nauvoo 
charter  was  safe  for  the  time. 

Reports  also  spread  through  the  state  that  some  Mormons 
at  the  instigation  of  Smith,  had  made  an  attempt  upon  the  life 
of  ex-governor  Boggs  of  Missouri.75  Some  foundation  was 
given  to  the  reports  when  Governor  Eeynolds  issued  requisition 
papers  for  the  arrest  of  Smith  as  a  fugitive  from  justice.  After 
some  delay,  caused  by  the  Mormon  authorities  at  Nauvoo,  Smith 
gave  himself  up  for  trial,  and  after  being  heard,  was  released, 
owing  to  insufficient  evidence  being  produced  agaginst  him.7* 

Still  another  episode  helped  to  inflame  the  Illinoisans.  John 
C.  Bennett,  at  one  time  the  right  hand  man  of  Smith  and  com- 
mander of  the  Nauvoo  Legion,  quarreled  'with  his  chief  and  left 
the  city  in  great  wrath.77  Having  been  for  several  years  in 
high  circles  in  Nauvoo,  he  worked  great  harm  to  the  Saints  by 
publishing  an  expose78  of  Mormonism,  severe  and  scathing  in  its 
nature,  and  substantiating  in  every  respect  reports  of  corrupt- 
ness and  immorality  existing  within  the  city.  Eagerly  grasp- 
ing at  anything  which  would  give  them  a  right  to  work  ven- 
geance upon  the  citizens  of  Nauvoo,  many  good  and  patriotic 
men  began  to  believe  that  Nauvoo  was  a  second  Sodom  and  a 
foul  spot  which  should  be  blotted  out.79 

As  time  went  on  the  hatred  increased  and  difficulties  multi- 
plied. One  of  the  many  charges  made  against  these  people 
was  that  they  were  prone  to  appropriate  the  property  of  their 
Gentile  neighbors.80  This  was  strenuously  denied  by  the  Mor- 


Register,  63,  304. 
™IUd.,  63,  389. 
7«7&tU,  63,  389. 

77  Kennedy,  Early  Days  of  Mormonism,  222. 

78  The  work   is  entitled,  History  of  the  Saints :   or  an  Expo86  of  Joe  Smith 
and  Mormonism,    (Boston,  1842.) 

7»  Kennedy,  Early  Days  of  Mormonism,  222. 
80  Gregg,  The  Prophet  of  Palmyra,  189. 

[232] 


POOLEY SETTLEMENT    OF    ILLINOIS,    1830-50  519' 

mons.  Extremely  poor  when  they  arrived  in  Illinois,  owing 
to  the  fact  that  they  had  been  dragged  about  from  place  ta 
place  and  robbed  of  their  goods  either  by  unbelievers  or  by  the 
elders  of  the  church  in  attempts  to  accumulate  property  for 
their  own  personal  benefit,  the  Mormons  had  gained  in  wealth  so 
rapidly  that  their  honesty  was  questioned. 

The  doctrines  of  the  church  did  not  support  theft  but  they 
did  teach  that,  sooner  or  later,  the  goods  of  the  Gentiles  were 
to  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  Saints.81  Since  they  'were  the  true 
children  of  the  Lord  to  whom  belonged  the  earth  and  its  rich- 
ness, it  was  only  just  and  proper  that  the  Mormons  should  ap- 
propriate such  portions  as  were  deemed  necessary.82  Such  were 
the  allegations  of  their  critics. 

Out  of  fairness  to  that  part  of  the  Mormon  population  of 
Nauvoo  which  believed  in  the  church  and  tried  to  live  moral 
lives  it  must  be  said  that  probably  a  large  number  of  the  thefts 
committed  were  the  work  of  a  class  of  horse-thieves,  house- 
breakers and  villains  who  gathered  in  Nauvoo  that  they  might 
cloak  their  deeds  in  mystery.83  This  class  cared  nothing  for  re- 
ligion and  were  baptised  that  they  might  find  refuge  in  the  city, 
for  refuge  'was  given  to  all  claiming  a  part  in  the  church. 
"When  stolen  property  was  traced  to  Nauvoo,  which  was  often 
the  case,  neither  the  owner  nor  even  officers  of  the  law  were 
able  to  recover  it.  Pursuers  were  set  at  defiance  within  the 
Mormon  stronghold,  often  robbed  of  their  horses  and  driven, 
out  of  the  city  with  insults1.84  Because  of  this  protection  it 
was  not  long  until  thefts  were  committed  in  broad  daylight 
before  the  eyes  of  the  farmers  themselves  who  were  powerless  to 
prevent  depredations. 

Moreover,  it  was  charged  that  Nauvoo  harbored  a  nest  of 
counterfeiters  who  operated  in  the  surrounding  county.85  Specie 
alone  would  be  taken  at  the  government  land  offices  in  payment 
for  lands.  These  men  would  on  occasions  load  their  bogus 


/Ottt.  i       1 

82  Letter  of  Henrietta  C.  Jones  in  Storied  of  the  Pioneer  Mothers  of  Illinois/^   J  T6" 
(M88.  in  111.  Hist.  Library.) 
63  Gunnison,  The  History  of  the  Mormons,  116. 
**  Niles'  Register,  69,  110. 
85  New  York  Weekly  Tribune,  Jan.  5,  1846. 

[233] 


520  BULLETIN-    OF    THE    UNIVERSITY    OF    WISCONSIN 

coin  into  a  wagon,  cover  it  with  light  articles  of  merchandise  to 
give  the  outfit  the  appearance  of  a  peddler's  wagon,  and  proceed 
into  land  districts  where  specie  was  in  demand.  There  they 
would  trade  off  their  coin  for  paper  money.  Tales  of  the 
" spiritual- wife"  doctrine  were  also  afloat  in  the  country,  which 
supported  by  the  expose  of  Bennett  added  fuel  to  the  fire. 

Even  this  list  of  grievances  shows  but  in  part  the  reason  for 
the  downfall  of  the  Church  of  Mormon  in  Illinois.  Jealousy, 
rivalry  and  dissension  within  the  church  itself  at  last  opened 
the  road,  by  means  of  which  the  final  expulsion  took  place.  A 
new  church  with  William  Law  as  President  was  established 
during  the  spring  of  1844.86  Not  satisfied  with  this  move  Law, 
with  the  faction,  decided  to  establish  a  newspaper  in  the  strong- 
hold of  Mormonism  with  the  avowed  purpose  of  making  an  at- 
tack upon  the  leaders  of  the  church.  Accordingly  on  June  7 
of  the  same  year,  the  Nauvoo  Expositor  appeared,  bearing  the 
motto,  "The  truth,  the  whole  truth,  and  nothing  but  the 
truth."87  It  boldly  attacked  Smith  and  his  associates  for  im- 
morality. The  first  issue  was  the  last,  for  on  the  tenth  of  the 
month  the  city  council  declared  the  Expositor  a  nuisance  and 
the  city  marshal  at  the  head  of  the  police  force  destroyed  the 
press,  while  the  editors  fled  from  the  city  making  appeals  to  the 
laws  of  the  state  for  redress.88 

The  action  of  the  Mormon  authorities  was  construed  as  an 
attack  upon  free  speech,  liberty  of  the  press  and  the  right  of 
private  property,89  and  writs  for  the  arrest  of  Joseph  Smith 
and  others  were  secured  at  Carthage,  the  county  seat  of  Hancock 
county.90  Officers  were  sent  to  make  the  arrests  but  after  they 
were  effected  the  constable  of  Nauvoo  produced  a  writ  of  habeas 
corpus  sworn  out  before  the  municipal  court  of  the  city  and 
compelled  the  release  of  the  prisoners.91  Feeling  against  the 
Mormons  ran  high  and  many  of  them  foreseeing  serious  trouble 


86  Gregg,  The  Prophet  of  Palmyra,  237. 
"Kennedy,  Early  Days  of  Mormonism,  234. 

MAmberley,  The  Latter  Day  Saints  In  Fortnightly  Review,  12,   527;  Nile? 
Register,  66,  278. 

88  Kennedy,  Early  Days  of  Mormonism,  234. 

«>Niles'  Register,  6tt,  278. 

81  Kennedy,  Early  Days  of  Mormonism,  239. 

[234] 


POOLEY SETTLEMENT    OF    ILLHSTOIS,    1830-50  521 

left  the  city.  Joseph  Smith  placed  the  city  under  martial  law, 
while  armed  bands  of  Gentiles  formed  throughout  the  country 
enrolled  under  the  sheriff's  orders,  ready  to  march  upon  Nau- 
voo.92 

Here  Governor  Ford  interfered.  Coming  to  Carthage  he 
sent  a  message  to  the  prophet  demanding  an  explanation  of  the 
trouble.  Smith  went  in  person  to  Carthage  to  make  his  defence 
and  was  bound  over,  together  with  the  members  of  the  Nauvoo 
city  council,  to  appear  at  the  following  term  of  court.  Almost 
immediately  after  the  hearing,  the  prophet  with  three  followers 
was  arrested  upon  the  charge  of  treason  and  thrown  into  jail.93 
Rumors  were  afloat  that  an  attempt  would  be  made  to  rescue 
the  prisoners,  and,  to  frustrate  this  plan,  an  entrance  was  forced 
into  the  jail  by  a  party  of  militia-men  and  both  the  Smiths  were 
murdered.94 

The  Mormons  in  Nauvoo  feared  a  general  attack  upon  their 
city,  wh'ile  a  panic  spread  through  Carthage.  In  two  hours  the 
town  was  deserted.  Men,  women  and  children,  all  fearing 
Mormon  vengeance  fled  on  foot,  on  horseback  and  in  wagons.95 
The  shock  was  too  great  for  the  Mormons  and  they  made  no 
attempt  to  take  vengeance.96  Nine  men  were  indicted,  charged 
with  the  murder  of  the  Smiths  but  were  acquitted  after  trial.97 

The  Mormon  power,  although  it  had  received  a  severe  blow, 
was  not  broken.  Brigham  Young  took  up  the  reins  of  govern- 
ment and  Nauvoo  gave  promise  of  prosperity  but  another  setback 
was  experienced  almost  immediately.  The  August  election  had 
resulted  in  the  success  of  the  Mormon  ticket  in  Hancock  county 
and  officials  obnoxious  to  the  Gentiles  were  elected.98  The  pre- 
vious September  had  seen  a  body  of  resolutions  passed  by  the 
citizens  of  the  county  stating  that  they  would  refuse  to  obey 
officers  elected  by  the  Mormons.99  This  was  followed  in  June, 
1844,  by  another  act,  passed  by  the  citizens  of  Warsaw,  being 


«*Nlles>  Register,  66,  278. 

83  Kennedy,  Early  Days  of  Mormonism,  240-242. 

M  Wiles'  Register,  66,  311. 

95  Gregg,  The  Prophet  of  Palmyra,  280. 

Mtfiles'  Register,  66,  329. 

97  Gregg,  The  Prophet  of  Palmyra,  298. 

88 /bid.,  320. 

Register,  65,  70. 

[235] 


:;.       3: 


eal 


-i       :     i*    i     :   - 


the 


1544. 


::  ':---   :: 


:   M- 


,.      -        -   -"        -,.-_- 

—  -         _  — _      •    ~ 


"       '.'-    T_.-T_rl 

al- 


:  :>- 


-   -i- 


::  -- 


"-- 


:•    - 


1- 


: 


— 


524  BULLETIN    OF    THE    UNIVEKSITY    OF    WISCONSIN 

several  on  each  side,116  the  Mormons  surrendered  and  agreed  to 
leave  the  state  at  once.117 

Nauvoo  was  now  abandoned  save  for  the  lone  Mormon  agent 
who  remained  in  charge  of  the  property,118  wistfully  looking 
for  purchasers  or  tenants,  and  waiting  for  any  possible  answer 
to  the  following  advertisement : 

"Temple  for  Sale. 

The  undersigned  Trustees  of  the  Latter  Day  Saints  propose  to 
sell  the  Temple  on  very  low  terms,  if  an  early  application  is 
made.  The  Temple  is  admirably  designed  for  Literary  or  Re- 
ligious purposes.  Address  the  undersigned  Trustees. 

Almon  W.   Babbitt, 
Joseph   L.   Heywood, 
John  S.  Fullmer. 
Nauvoo,  May  15,  1846.  "119 

To  Illinois,  the  expulsion  of  this  sect  seems  to  have  been  a 
blessing,  for  peace  and  quiet  had  for  years  been  almost  unknown 
in  that  portion  of  the  state  lying  around  the  Mormon  strong- 
hold. Of  the  four  religious  or  communistic  settlements  in  Ill- 
inois this  one  alone  was  not  welcome,  and  alone  of  all  was  not 
allowed  to  work  out  its  o'wn  destiny  unmolested.  One  reason 
may  be  assigned.  The  people  of  the  state  firmly  believed  the 
Mormons  nothing  more  than  a  band  of  impostors  and  rascals. 
"While  the  Mormon  settlement  in  Illinois  is  an  exceptional  case 
in  the  settlement  of  the  state  it  can  be  considered  as  a  phase 
of  the  westward  expansion.  It  is  an  example  of  a  body  of 
religious  enthusiasts  attempting  to  find  a  place  on  the  frontier 
where  they  could  put  into  operation  their  social  and  religious 
views. 

Originating  in  western  New  York  which  was  a  hot-bed  for 
religious  excitement,  the  followers  moved  to  Ohio,  then  to  Mis- 
souri, then  to  Illinois  and  finally  to  the  far  West.  Smith  was 
born  in  Windsor  county,  Vermont,  and  moved  to  New  York  in 
1815.  The  people  among  whom  he  found  himself  were  ex- 


116  tiles'  Register,  71,  64. 

117  Warsaw  Signal,  Oct.  13,  1846. 

118  Hillquit,  History  of  Socialism  in  the  United  States,  129. 
«•  Nauvoo  New  Citizen,  Feb.  24,  1847. 


POOLEY SETTLEMENT    OF    ILLINOIS,    1830-50  525 

tremely  religious  and  superstitious.  Prophecies  and  miracles 
were  believed  in  and  the  Bible  accepted  literally  making  the 
state  a  natural  field  for  wild  religious  speculation.  "With  in- 
creased converts  came  the  vision  of  a  community  devoting  itself 
entirely  to  the  teachings  of  the  Book  of  Mormon.  The  frontier 
was  the  natural  place  for  such  a  community  to  work  out  its 
destiny  and  a  home  was  sought,  first  in  Ohio,  then  in  Missouri 
and  then  in  Illinois. 

However  free  the  life  and  thought  of  the  "West  might  be  it 
could  not  be  brought  to  agree  with  or  even,  at  last,  to  allow  the 
exercise  of  views  which  seemed  to  be  pernicious  and  destructive 
to  religious  and  social  order.  The  expulsion  of  the  Mormons 
from  Missouri  and  from  Illinois  shows  another  pioneer  char- 
acteristic yet  in  the  early  stages  of  development.  It  was  one 
of  the  first  signs  of  "border  ruffianism"  which  was  developed 
so  rapidly  in  the  Kansas  struggle  of  the  next  decade.  In  this 
early  stage  the  characteristic  displayed  was  the  beginning  of  the 
intolerant  spirit  towards  a  disliked  institution.  The  expulsion 
was  arbitrary;  it  was  done  simply  because  of  antagonism  and 
while  Mormon  ideals,  beliefs  and  customs  can  in  no  way  be  sup- 
ported, the  action  of  the  citizens  of  the  states  is  open  to  con- 
demnation. 

In  some  ways  the  city  of  the  Mormons  followed  the  general 
tendency  and  laws  of  development  of  western  towns.  Situated 
on  a  convenient  transportation  line  and  having  a  good  back 
country  to  draw  upon,  it  was  bound  to  grow  should  external 
conditions  not  hinder.  The  development  cannot,  however,  be 
attributed  to  natural  causes  at  work  in  the  western  country; 
but  it  must  be  attributed  to  an  immigration  growing  under 
fanatical  religious  pressure  and  here  again  Nauvoo  is  the  ex- 
ception in  westward  expansion.  Aside  from  the  desire  of  a 
body  of  people  to  'work  out  a  social,  communistic  and  religious 
experiment  near  the  frontier  line,  the  Mormon  colony  is  not 
typical  in  the  western  movement. 


[239] 


£26  BULLETIN    OF    THE    UNIVERSITY    OF    WISCONSIN 


COMMUNISTIC  SETTLEMENTS  IN  ILLINOIS 

Before  the  Mormons  were  driven  from  Illinois,  another  inter- 
esting community  was  established  within  the  bounds'  of  the 
state.  The  newcomers  were  followers  of  the  French  socialist, 
.Fourier,  and  were  putting  to  a  practical  test  the  theory  ad- 
vanced by  this  man.  The  workings  and  life  of  the  two  settle- 
ments founded  in  Illinois  seem  to  have  attracted  but  little  at- 
tention and  almost  nothing  is  known  of  the  communities  save 
that  one  of  them  numbering  over  one  hundred  members  existed 
for  a  year  and  a  half  in  Sangamon  county.  Of  the  earlier  ex- 
periment in  Bureau  county  nothing  is  known. 

Fourier,  the  father  of  the  theory,  founded  his  philosophy  of 
human  relations  to  God,  the  world  and  fellowmen  upon  the  basis 
of  harmony.  God  created  the  universe  on  an  harmonious  plan, 
hence  harmony  was  the  keynote  of  all  things.  "Within  each 
•person  certain  instincts  and  passions  predominate  and  where- 
ever  these  passions  and  instincts  were  properly  developed  for 
the  good  of  society,  there  the  ideal  state  was  to  be  found. 

For  the  proper  development  of  the  Phalanx,  the  basic  unit 
•of  the  system,  three  square  miles  of  land  were  necessary  upon 
which  was  to  be  built  the  Palace  or  common  house.  Every- 
thing was  held  in  common  and  division  of  labor  was  highly 
developed.  Farmers,  capitalists,  scientists  and  artists  all  had 
their  spheres  of  employment.  To  each  laborer  a  fixed  sum  was 
paid  according  to  the  amount  of  work  he  did  and  according  to 
his  ability.  All  profits  went  to  a  common  fund.  All  children 
received  equal  instruction  and  from  earliest  childhood  were 
trained  for  the  Phalanx  according  to  their  inclination.1 


Hillquit,  History  of  Socialism  in  the  United  States,  85. 

[240] 


POOLEY SETTLEMENT    OF    ILLINOIS,    1830-50  527 

Practical  tests  of  these  dreams  were  made  and,  through  the 
efforts  of  Albert  Brisbane,  Fourierism  was  introduced  into  the 
United  States.2  Societies  were  formed  in  Massachusetts,  New 
York,  New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania,  Ohio,  Indiana,  "Wisconsin, 
Michigan  and  Illinois.  As  a  rule  they  were  shortlived  affairs 
and  the  ones  in  Illinois  were  no  exception  to  the  rule. 

Bureau  county  was  the  scene  of  the  first  experiment  in  Ill- 
inois. No  definite  information  is  obtainable  concerning  the 
number  of  members,  the  amount  of  land  held  by  the  society 
or  the  length  of  life  of  the  community.  It  had  its  beginning 
in  1843  and  was  apparently  a  venture  'which  met  with  no  suc- 
cess.3 

Two  years  later  the  Integral  Phalanx  began  its  life  in  San- 
gamon  county,  a  few  miles  from  Springfield.  The  settlement 
had  one  hundred  and  twenty  members  and  owned  over  five 
hundred ,  acres  of  land.  Five  or  six  buildings  were  erected 
upon  the  land  besides  the  large  central  building  which  was  a 
two-story  structure,  three  hundred  and  sixty  feet  long  and 
twenty-four  feet  wide.4 

In  actual  life  this  community,  while  intending  ultimately  to 
follow  out  Fourier's  idea  in  its  details,  does  not  seem  to  have 
conformed  to  the  established  rules  during  the  early  days  of  its 
existence.  A  correspondent  to  the  New  York  Tribune  wrote 
that  "until  the  members  were  prepared  to  organize  they  in- 
tended to  operate  on  a  system  of  hired  labor  and  pay  each  in- 
dividual a  full  compensation  for  all  assistance  rendered  in  labor 
or  other  services  and  charge  each  a  fair  price  for  'what  he  re- 
ceived from  the  common  store  house  of  the  Phalanx.  "What 
remained  to  each  individual  was  then  credited  to  him  as  stock 
and  drew  ten  per  cent,  compound  interest."5  A  further  evi- 
dence that  the  community  was  never  thoroughly  organized  as  a 
Phalanx  operating  upon  a  communistic  basis  is  found  in  the 
same  article,  for  the  correspondent  says;  "It  is  better  that  the 
different  families  should  remain  separate  for  five  years  than 


2  ma.,  87. 

8  Hinds,  American  Communities,  224. 

*  New  York  Weekly  Tribune,  Nov.  15,  1845. 

*  Ibid. 

16  [241] 


528  BULLETIN    OF    THE    UNIVERSITY    OF    WISCONSIN 

to  bring  them  together  under  circumstances  worse  than  civil- 
ization." The  venture  lasted  but  seventeen  months.6  Prob- 
ably only  the  more  enthusiastic  members  moved  away  to  similar 
settlements  in  other  places,  the  others  remaining  to  take  advan- 
tage of  the  excellent  farming  country. 

Next  in  order  of  time  came  the  Swedish  colony  at  Bishop  Hill 
in  Henry  county.  It  'was  both  religious  and  communistic  in 
character. 

In  Sweden  no  one  was  allowed  to  worship  excepting  accord- 
ing to  forms  of  the  established  Lutheran  church.  In  1825  a 
split  came  in  the  church.  A  new  sect  composed  of  peasants  and 
a  few  of  the  clergy,  and  known  as  the  Devotionalists  arose  hi 
the  province  of  Helsingland.7  For  seventeen  years  these  De- 
votionalists, under  the  guidance  of  their  highly  respected  leader 
Jonas  Olson,  assembled  unmolested  to  read  their  Bibles,  still 
enjoying  their  privileges  as  full  members  of  the  Established 
Church.8  The  work  of  the  Devotionalists  was  commendable 
for  it  tended  towards  furthering  industry  and  sobriety  among 
the  peasant  class  whose  morals  had  been  very  low. 

Eric  Jansen,  who  was  also  the  head  of  a  dissenting  sect  now 
(1842)  appeared  upon  the  scene,  speaking  with  great  effect  to 
various  assemblages  of  Devotionalists.  The  Jansonists  had  been 
cast  out  of  the  Established  Church  in  1834  and  from  that  time 
had  been  subjected  to  persecutions  by  the  orthodox  party.9 
Jansen  had  been  imprisoned  but  escaped  through  Norway  to 
Denmark  and  thence  to  New  York.10 

A  large  number  of  Swedes  having  now  become  dissatisfied 
with  the  state  of  religious  affairs  in  their  native  land  resolved 
to  emigrate.  The  Jansonists  included  many  among  their  num- 
ber Who  were  miners  and  poor  peasants  unable  to  bear  the  ex- 
pense of  a  voyage  to  America.  To  remedy  this,  the  idea  of 
making  the  colony  communistic  was  conceived  and  carried  out.11 
A  messenger  sent  in  1845  to  seek  a  place  suitable  for  a  colony, 


9  Hinds,  American  Communities,  224. 

i  Mikkelsen,  The  Bishop  Hill  Colony,  In  Johns  Hopkins  Univ.  Studies,  10,  15. 


»IUd.,  24. 

10  Nelson,  Scandinavians  in  the  United  States,  2,  2-3. 

11  Mikklesen,  The  Bishop  Hill  Colony,  in  Johns  Hopkins  Univ.  Studies,  1O,  27. 

[242] 


POOLEY SETTLEMENT    OF    ILLINOIS,    1830-50  529 

upon  arriving  in  New  York,  was  directed  to  Victoria,  Knox 
county,  Illinois.  A  satisfactory  location  having  been  found 
and  the  news  conveyed  to  Sweden,  preparations  for  departure 
were  completed. 

In  the  early  summer  of  1846  between  four  and  five  hundred 
emigrants12  set  sail  from  Sweden,  landing  at  New  York  where 
they  were  met  by  Eric  Jansen,  who  acted  as  their  conductor  to 
Illinois.  The  scant  means  of  the  party  were  almost  exhausted 
upon  landing  and  as  they  were  still  far  from  their  destination 
a  serious  problem  confronted  them.  It  is  said  that  some  of  the 
men  traveled  the  whole  distance  from  New  York  on  foot  while 
the  (women  and  children  were  sent  by  way  of  the  Erie  canal 
and  the  Great  Lakes  to  Chicago.  From  Chicago  to  Henry 
county  (the  destination  having  been  changed  from  Knox  county 
owing  to  the  reported  unhealthful  climate  of  that  place)  all 
excepting  the  weakly,  women  and  children  journeyed  on  foot, 
a  distance  of  more  than  one  hundred  miles.13 

The  Harbinger  in  speaking  of  the  party  as  it  left  Chicago 
in  September,  1846,  says  that  on  the  faces  of  these  immigrants 
there  were  expressions  of  patient,  intelligent  endurance.  "They 
were  not  bowed  down  with  weakness  and  care  like  the  French 
and  Italian  emigrants,  nor  stern  and  stolid  like  the  newly  arrived 
Germans,  nor  wild  and  vehement  like  many  of  the  Irish — they 
walked  erect  and  firm,  looking  always  hopeful  and  contented 
though  very  serious, ' '  and  the  greatest  gentleness  and  good  will 
prevailed  among  them.14  When  they  arrived  in  Henry  county 
they  purchased  land  and  named  their  new  home  Bishop  Hill  in* 
honor  of  the  birth  place  of  Jansen.15 

It  could  not  be  said  that  their  lives  were  happy  during  the 
first  winter  in  Illinois.  They  lived  in  several  log  houses,  two 
tents  and  a  dozen  "dug-outs."16  Their  fare  was  no  better  than 
their  lodgings — pork  with  bread  baked  from  the  cornmeal  ground 
by  their  mill  furnished  their  food.  When  the  stream  which 


12  Nelson,  Scandinavians  in  the   United  States,  2,   2-3 ;   Bigelow,   The  Bishop 
Hill  Colony  in  the  111.  Hist.  Society  Transactions  (1902),  101-108. 

13  Hinds,  American  Communities,  303. 

14  The  Harbinger,  3,  257. 

15  Hinds,  American  Communities,  303. 

16  Nelson,  Scandinavians  in  the  United  States,  2,  3. 

[243] 


530  BULLETIN    OF    THE    UNIVERSITY    OF    WISCONSIN 

turned  the  mill  wheel  could  not  be  used,  the  work  was  done  by 
two  or  three  men.  Scanty  fare  and  poorly  ventilated  apart- 
ments soon  brought  on  disease  and  the  new  settlers  were  either 
shaking  with  ague  or  burning  with  fever.  Cholera  appeared 
and  a  score  died,  while  many  fled  to  escape  this  scourge.17 

During  1847  four  hundred  more  arrived  and  by  the  close  of 
the  following  year  there  were  1,200  in  the  settlement.18  Cholera 
broke  out  again  in  1849  and  checked  immigration.19 

Like  the  Puritans  the  first  thoughts  of  the  Swedish  settlers 
were  for  a  church  and  a  school.  A  large  tent20  (some  say  a 
log  structure)21  was  erected  for  divine  services.  In  summer 
the  meetings  were  held  in  the  open  air.  A.  mud  cave  at  first 
answered  the  purpose  of  a  school  house.22 

During  the  first  year  at  Bishop  Hill  the  colonists  divided 
their  waking  hours  between  labor  and  worship  save  the  time 
when  they  gathered  around  the  common  tables.  "At  five  in 
the  winter  and  four  in  the  summer  the  bell  summoned  them  to 
their  morning  devotions  which  sometimes  lasted  two  hours."23 
Sometimes  at  noon  and  after  the  evening  meal  services  were 
again  held.  A  school  of  theology  was  instituted  and  young 
men  after  studying  the  English  language  a  few  months,  were 
sent  forth  to  convert  the  United  States  and  the  world.24  Their 
success  was  moderate,  the  Yankees  being  especially  hard  to 
convert  since  they  were  "too  busy  inventing  bad  clocks  and 
peddling  cheap  tinware  to  listen  to  what  the  missionaries  had 
to  say."25 

Farming  was  carried  on  extensively  and  was  well  done.28 
Thousands  of  acres  of  land  were  cultivated  and  hundreds  of 
cattle  and  horses  went  to  make  up  the  wealth  of  the  settlement.271 


17  Hinds,  American  Communities,  305. 

18  Bigelow,  The    Bishop    Hill    Colony  in  the    111.   Hist.    Society    Transactions 
(1902),  101-108;  Niles'  Register,  7O,  260;  gives  the  population  as  1,100. 

18  Bigelow,  The    Bishop    Hill  Colony    in  the    111.  Hist.    Society    Transactions 
(1902),  101-108. 

*>  Hinds,  American  Communities,  305. 
71  Nelson,  Scandinavians  in  the  United  States,  2,  3. 
a  Hinds,  American  Communities,  305. 
» IUd.,  306. 

w  Nelson,  Scandinavians,  in  the  United  States,  2,  4. 

»  Mikklesen,  The  Bishop  Hill  Colony  in  Johns  Hopkins  Univ.  Studies,  10,  31. 
m  Nelson,  Scandinavians  in  the  United  States,  2,  4. 
37  Hinds,  American  Communities,  310. 

[244] 


POOLEY SETTLEMENT    OF    ILLINOIS,    1830-50  531 

Men,  women,  boys  and  girls  alike  worked  in  the  fields.28  Flax 
and  broom  corn  were  produced,  and  as  many  of  the  colonists  had 
been  expert  weavers  in  their  native  land  they  pursued  the  in- 
dustry in  their  new  homes.29  Sawmills  were  erected  and  fur- 
nished an  abundance  of  lumber.30  The  manufacture  of  kiln- 
dried  bricks  became  one  of  the  industries.31 

By  1850,  when  the  greatest  prosperity  of  the  colony  began, 
nearly  every  province  of  Sweden  was  represented  at  Bishop 
Hill,  which  was,  at  that  time,  by  far  the  most  populous  and  im- 
portant settlement  in  Henry  county.32  Between  $10,000  and 
$15,000  in  gold  had  been  put  into  circulation  by  these  Swedes 
in  purchasing  land  and  the  necessaries  of  life,  which,  since  trade 
in  the  section  of  the  state  was  being  carried  on  almost  entirely 
by  barter,  was  a  matter  of  no  little  importance  to  the  people.33 

Dissension  finally  arose  within  the  colony  and  culminated  in 
the  murder  of  Jansen  in  1850.34  As  has  been  stated  the  Bishop 
Hill  settlement  was  communistic  in  character  and  the  wealth 
of  the  colony  which  was  held  in  common  was  controlled  by 
seven  trustees  who  held  office  subject  to  the  approval  of  the 
male  members  of  the  colony.35  The  common  dining  hall,  where 
the  whole  community  numbering  more  than  a  thousand  were 
fed,  was  a  feature  distinctly  communistic.36  The  trustees  were 
provided  for  by  a  charter  granted  to  the  colony  by  the  legisla- 
ture of  Illinois  in  1853.  Two  years  later  financial  entangle- 
ments due  to  unsuccessful  speculation  by  the  trustees  caused 
the  dissolution  of  the  colony,37  and  here  ended  perhaps  the  most 
successful  experiment  among  the  communistic  settlements  of 
Illinois. 

In  the  closing  years  of  the  decade  1841-1850  another  social 
experiment  was  begun  on  the  site  of  the  Mormon  city,  Nauvoo. 


28  Ibid.,  307. 

29  Nelson,  Scandinavians  in  the  United  States,  2,  4. 
™IMd.,  4. 

81  Hinds,  American  Communities,  310. 

32  Mikkiesen,  The  Bishop  Hill  Colony  in  Johns  Hopkins  Univ.  Studies,  1O,  36. 

33  IMd. 

84  Bremer,  The  Homes  of  the  New  World,  2,  67-70. 

85  Hinds,  American  Communities,  311. 
™Tbid.,  310. 

37  Nelson,  Scandinavians  in  the  United  States,  2,  6. 


[245] 


532        snxETix  OF  THE   L-NIVIIBSITY  OF  wiscoxsrs 


The  founder  was  M.  JEtigupp  Qahpt,  a  Frenchman,  whose  child- 
hood had  been  passed  during  the  stormy  days  of  the  French 
Revolution  and  whose  youth  had  witnessed  the  struggle  of 
France  in  her  vain  endeavor  to  satisfy  the  ambition  of  Napo- 
leon. It  is  scarcely  to  be  wondered  at  that  this  man  who  was 
one  of  some  ability  as  a  statesman  and  a  writer  should  have 
conceived  a  plan  by  means  of  which  he  thought  to  correct  the 
corrupt  organization  of  society.  .  The  abolition  of  self-interest 
and  selfishness  must,  he  believed,  be  effected;  common  owner- 
ship of  property  must  be  established;  freedom  of  religion  must 
be  tolerated;  women  must  be  given  the  same  social  rights  as 
men  and  equality  be  made  the  basis  of  society.38 

These  communistic  doctrines  met  with  much  support  among 
the  common  people  of  France  but  not  with  the  higher  classes. 
Not  only  were  the  French  interested  but  other  nationalities  and 
in  foreign  countries  the  better  classes  of  artisans  seemed  to  be 
the  ones  most  in  favor  of  Cabet's  teachings.*9  By  the  Social- 
istic paper  La  Populaire,  Cabet's  ideas  were  disseminated 
among  the  artisans  of  Germany.  Spain.  Italy  and  Switzerland  — 
everywhere  that  the  French  language  could  be  read.  By  1848 
some  400,000  people  adhered  to  the  Icarian  doctrine.40 

Owing  to  the  fact  that  it  was  not  generally  accepted  in  France, 
Cabet  decided  to  move  to  America  and  establish  his  settlement 
there.  Thousands  who  wished  to  go  had  not  the  means,  so 
sixty-nine  were  chosen  as  a  vanguard,  from  among  those  who 
could  afford  to  make  the  voyage,  and  in  February,  1848,  they 
left  Havre  bound  for  New  Orleans.41  Fifteen  hundred  were 
soon  to  follow,  but  upon  the  establishment  of  the  Second  Repub- 
lic in  1848  it  seemed  as  if  better  days  were  coming  in  France, 
and  the  greater  part  of  those  intending  to  leave  for  America 
changed  their  plans  and  remained  at  home.  Later  in  the  year 
four  hundred  came.42  The  destination  of  the  colony  was  Texas4* 
but  H  was  not  long  before  the  dream  of  a  community  farm  of 


>  Reynolds,  Illinois,  374. 

'Robinson,  A  Soetal  Experiment  in  The  Open  Court,  Aug.  28,  1890. 


'Aft 

'Hinds,  American  Communities,  328. 

[246] 


POOLEY SETTLEMENT    OF    ILLINOIS,    1830-60  533 

a  million  acres  in  that  state  faded  away  under  a  series  of  hard- 
ships too  severe  for  the  people  to  stand.  On  January  1,  1849, 
Cabet  landed  in  New  Orleans.44  The  colony  now  consisted  of 
four  hundred  and  eighty  souls  with  an  average  capital  of 
thirty-five  dollars  per  individuaL45 

The  Texas  venture  was  a  failure.  Some  were  discouraged 
and  gave  up;46  others  remained  firm,  determined  to  carry  out 
their  original  plan  of  a  colony  based  upon  a  proper  social 
structure.  Exploring  parties  were  sent  out  to  seek  a  more 
favorable  location  and  Nauvoo  was  selected.47  Brigham  Young 
when  he  had  organized  the  migration  to  Salt  Lake  had  left  the 
Mormon  property  at  Xauvoo  in  the  hands  of  an  agent  who  re- 
mained waiting  for  a  purchaser.  This  was  an  excellent  op- 
portunity for  the  Icarians.  since  the  land  was  well  cultivated 
and  there  were  good  houses  all  of  which  could  be  obtained  at  a 
nominal  figure.  Eight  hundred  acres  of  land  were  rented  and 
a  mill,  distillery  and  several  houses  were  purchased.48  Here, 
dispirited  and  homesick  as  they  were,  the  Icarians  attempted 
to  carry  out  their  ideas  of  a  reorganized  social  life,  as  well  as 
circumstances  would  allow. 

A  constitution  was  drawn  up  setting  forth  the  fundamentals 
of  governmental  and  social  structure.  The  idea  was  to  replace 
the  old  world  by  a  new  one;  to  supplant  the  rule  of  Satan  by 
the  rule  of  God ;  moral  death  by  regeneration ;  ignorance  by  edu- 
cation; domination  and  servitude  by  enfranchisement  and  lib- 
erty; aristocracy  by  democracy;  and  monarchy  by  republican- 
ism. Furthermore,  they  desired  to  replace  excessive  opulence 
of  a  few  by  the  well-being  of  all;  to  substitute  a  religion  of 
reason  which  would  induce  men  to  love  each  other,  for  religions 
mixed  with  superstition,  intolerance  and  fanaticism;  to  adopt  a 
social  organization  in  which  the  word  "society**  would  no 
longer  be  mockery  and  falsehood;  to  replace  individual  prop- 
erty, the  source  of  all  abuse,  by  social  property;  to  purify  the 
institutions  of  marriage  and  family  by  educating  women  as 


*»  Robinson.  A  Social  Experiment  in  The  Open  Camrt,  Aug.  28,  1890. 

«•  Reynolds,  /f*tj»oi»,  372. 

"  Robinson,  A  8ocM  Erjmrimfnt  In  The  Open  Court,  Aug.  28,  1890;  Miller, 
Mrs.  J.  G..  Tike  Jearira  Commmmity  of  ITavroo,  IBmoi*  in  lYmuaettoM  aC  tte 
Illinois  State  Historical  Society,  (1906). 

45  Hillqnit,  History  of  SorMim  t»  the  United  State*,  129. 

[247] 


534  BULLETIN    OF    THE    UNIVERSITY    OF    WISCONSIN 

well  as  men  and  allowing  them  unrestricted  choice  in  the  selec- 
tion of  husbands,  and  finally  to  base  all  upon  liberty,  equality 
and  fraternity.49 

Unity,  solidarity,  equality  and  respect  of  law  'were  to  be  per- 
fected by  having  all  live  as  one  family,  assuming  mutual  re- 
sponsibility, suppressing  servitude  and  submitting  to  the  rule 
of  the  majority.  The  exercise  of  natural  liberty  should  extend 
to  the  right  of  defense  from  attack,  social  liberty  should  not  be 
exercised  beyond  the  law  while  political  liberty  consisted  in  as- 
sisting to  make  laws.  The  fundamental  guiding  principle  was  to 
be  found  in  the  maxim  "Love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself."50 

All  male  members  over  twenty-one  years  of  age  were  allowed 
to  take  an  active  part  in  the  government.  All  branches  of  so- 
ciety were  under  the  supervision  of  committees  and  education 
was  given  special  attention,  for  in  the  younger  generation  Cabet 
hoped  to  see  the  realization  of  his  ideals  of  social  and  govern- 
mental structure,  and  the  children  were  educated  accordingly 
by  the  community,  living  together  as  a  single  family. 

The  everyday  life  of  the  community  was  simple  but  inter- 
esting. Each  member  worked  according  to  his  strength,  labor- 
ing ten  hours  a  day.  On  Sunday  lectures  were  given  on  moral 
and  religious  subjects;  dancing  and  the  enjoyment  of  nature 
were  indulged  in  during  the  day  while  theaters  and  concerts 
were  held  in  the  evening.  The  business  of  the  community  was 
discussed  on  Saturday  evening.51 

The  industry  of  the  members,  their  peaceful  and  orderly 
habits  caused  them  to  be  esteemed  by  their  American  neighbors. 
They  were  a  sociable  and  intellectual  people  living  a  better  life 
than  could  have  been  lived  under  a  system  of  individualism  and 
they  formed  a  pleasant  contrast  to  the  people  who  had  occupied 
the  site  of  their  colony  only  a  few  years  before. 

Financial  troubles,  however,  at  last  caused  dissension  and 
numbered  the  Icarian  community  among  the  failures  of  social- 
istic experiments.  The  colony  divided,  part  going  with  Cabet 
to  St.  Louis  and  the  remainder  to  Iowa.52 


*»  Charter  and  By-Laws  of  the  Icarian  Community,  7-8. 

50  Ibid.,  9-16. 

51  Reynolds,  Illinois,  376. 

B2~Rol)inson,  A  Social  Experiment  in  The  Open  Court,  Sept.  11,  1890. 


[248] 


POOLEY SETTLEMENT    OF    ILLINOIS,    1830-50  535" 

There  "were  a  number  of  smaller  colonies  in  the  state  based 
upon  plans  of  a  more  or  less  communistic  nature.  In  the  Ill- 
inois river  valley53  were  the  Tremont,  Delavan  and  Mackinaw 
colonies  in  Tazewell  county  and  the  Rockwell  colony  in  La  Salle 
county;  in  the  Military  Tract54  there  were  the  Andover,  "Weth- 
ersfield  and  Geneseo  colonies  in  Henry  county,  the  Hampshire 
and  Providence  colonies  in  Bureau  county  and  Gale's  colony 
in  Knox  county;  in  Eastern  Illinois55  there  were  the  Rhode 
Island  and  Hudson  colonies  in  McLean  county,  the  German 
colony  at  Teutopolis,  Effingham  county,  the  French  Colonie  des 
Freres  in  Jasper  county  and  Noel  Vasseur's  Canadian  colony 
at  Bourbonnais,  Kankakee  county. 

It  was  generally  the  plan  of  the  organizers  of  these  colonies 
to  form  stock  companies,  purchase  land  and  allot  tracts  of  it 
to  the  members  of  the  companies  in  proportion  to  the  amount 
of  stock  held.56  Some  of  the  colonies  were  chartered  by  the 
state.57  Often  a  common  house  was  erected  by  the  company 
for  the  accommodation  of  the  settlers  until  homes  could  be  pro- 
vided for  the  families.58 

These  colonies  may  be  taken  as  a  phase  of  the  westward  move- 
ment which  seems  to  have  appealed  particularly  to  New  Eng- 
landers and  New  York.  There  had  been,  since  earliest  times,, 
a  desire  among  New  Englanders  to  live  in  compact  settlements. 
From  political  and  religious  instincts  the  earliest  settlers  in' 
New  England  clung  closely  together.  This  tendency  was 
strengthened  by  Indian  wars  and  physiographic  influences. 
It  appears  that,  although  many  New  Englanders  came  west 
alone  trusting  to  individual  efforts  to  establish  homes  in  the 
new  country,  there  was  also  a  distinct  movement  to  settle  in 


53  See  Ch.  IV.  for  details  of  settlement  and  growth. 

M  Ch.  V. 

w  Ch.  VIII. 

56  The  Delavan  company  had  a  capital  of  $44,000  and  held  23,000  acres  of 
land  (ch.,  IV.)  ;  the  Wethersfleld  colony  had  a  capital  of  $25,000  and  held  20,- 
000  acres  of  land  (cJi.,  V)  ;  the  Rhode  Island  colony  had  a  capital  of  $12,500 
(ch.,  VIII)  ;  the  Providence  colony  held  17,000  acres  (ch.,  V)  ;  the  German  colony 
at  Teutopolis  held  10,000  acres  (ch.,  VIII)  ;  and  the  French  colony  in  Jaeper 
county  had  12,000  acres  (ch.,  VIII). 

"The  Rhode  Island  Colony  in  McLean  county  was  chartered  by  the  state  of 
Illinois  (ch.  VIII). 

58  The  Providence  colony  (ch.,  V),  the  Delavan  and  Mackinaw  colonies  all- 
provided  common  houses  (ch.,  IV). 

[249] 


536  BULLETIN"    OF    THE    UNIVEESITY    OF    WISCONSIN 

colonies.  From  New  York,  also,  similar  attempts  were  made, 
but  when  one  remembers  that  western  New  York  was  settled 
by  New  Englanders  shortly  after  the  Revolution,  an  explanation 
may  be  found  in  the  New  England  origin  of  the  New  Yorkers. 
Probably  many  of  these  colonies  which  were  planned  in  the 
thirties  are  due  to  the  spirit  of  speculation  which  was  rife  in 
the  country  at  the  time.  It  is  equally  true  that  the  financial 
difficulties  of  the  closing  years  of  that  decade  brought  many  of 
these  ventures  to  an  untimely  end.  Still  another  idea  may  have 
been  in  the  minds  of  the  promoter's.  The  great  prairies  of  the 
West  could  hardly  be  occupied  successfully  by  individuals  but 
with  the  concerted  efforts  of  numbers  it  seemed  that  success 
could  be  obtained.  Occasionally  religion  played  a  part  in  the 
birth  of  new  colonies  but  it  appears  that  the  religious  and  social 
influences  acted  more  strongly  in  those  ventures  which  foreign- 
ers attempted. 

In  the  cases  of  the  Phalanx  and  of  Icaria  can  be  seen  an  in- 
teresting phase  of  the  westward  expansion.  These  were  at- 
tempts by  a  number  of  enthusiasts  to  put  into  operation  cer- 
tain social  ideals  which  they  held.  The  frontier,  or  at  least 
the  new  western  country,  was  the  most  favorable  place  for  these 
experiments,  for  here  the  members  believed  they  could  work 
out  their  plans  unhampered.  Illinois  was  still  enough  of  a 
frontier  state  to  allow  the  greatest  possible  social  freedom  and 
yet  it  lacked  the  dangers  of  the  extreme  frontier. 

The  followers  of  Fourier  were  quiet,  peaceful  agriculturists 
who  preached  no  doctrine  harmful  to  society  and  they  were  con- 
sequently allowed  to  remain  undisturbed,  being  regarded  by  the 
people  of  Illinois  as  a  band  of  dreamers1,  who  sooner  or  later 
would  see  the  weakness  of  their  beliefs  and  abandon  them. 

In  the  Icarian  community  is  found  an  excellent  example  of 
a  democratic  government  combined  with  pure  communism  in 
property.  When  one  examines  the  difficulties  which  confronted 
the  Icarians,  and  remembers  that  the  members  of  the  commun- 
ity were  only  average  Frenchmen  endowed  with  ordinary  traits 
of  human  nature  he  will  see  that  even  though  these  people  tried 
earnestly  to  live  more  equal,  unselfish,  altruistic  lives  they  had 
embarked  upon  a  difficult  enterprise.  Moreover,  when  it  is 

[250] 


POOLEY SETTLEMENT    OF    ILLINOIS,    1830-50  537 

remembered  that  the  colony  was  composed  chiefly  of  artisans 
from  the  French  cities,  rather  than  people  of  the  farming  class, 
and  that  they  were  totally  ignorant  of  American  customs,  lan- 
guage, laws  and  business  it  may  be  wondered  at  that  the  colony 
attained  the  degree  of  success  which  it  did.  Besides  there  was 
no  religious  sentiment  to  spur  on  the  members  to  success  as  was 
the  case  in  the  Bishop  Hill  settlement. 

The  Bishop  Hill  colony,  primarily  religious  in  character,  de- 
veloped, through  necessity,  into  a  communistic  experiment. 
Upon  arriving  in  Illinois,  circumstances  further  developed  com- 
munistic traits.  Being  from  a  foreign  land  and  being  un- 
familiar with  American  customs  and  forms  of  government,  these 
newcomers  felt  that  they  were  strangers,  and  being  attached 
to  the  customs  of  their  native  land  they  continued  to  enjoy  them. 
Moreover,  in  the  new  country  there  was,  owing  to  the  lack  of 
transportation  facilities,  little  opportunity  for  contact  with  the 
outer  world.  Agriculture  was  the  chief  industry,  but  with  the 
manufacture  of  cloth,  lumber  and  other  necessaries  and  with 
the  establishment  of  a  college  in  connection  with  their  church 
and  school,  the  settlers  made  their  community  nearly  self-suf- 
ficing. The  common  kitchen  and  dining-room  and  the  super- 
vision of  all  business  by  trustees  were  important  communistic 
features.  The  log  houses  and  ' '  dug-outs ' '  for  abodes ;  the  meals 
of  pork  and  corn  bread;  the  attacks  of  fever  and  ague,  all  show 
the  frontier  characteristics  of  the  colony. 

In  some  respects  the  Bishop  Hill  colony  differed  from  the  other 
settlements  of  the  same  general  class.  The  members  attempted  no 
new  social  organization  as  did  the  Icarians  or  the  followers  of 
Fourier,  neither  were  they,  like  the  Mormans,  attempting  to  es- 
tablish a  new  religion,  but  they  were,  like  the  Puritan  fathers, 
fugitives'  from  their  native  land  attempting  to  worship  as  they 
wished  in  a  new  country.  The  communism  practiced  was  not 
based  upon  a  theory  but  was  merely  the  outgrowth  of  existing 
circumstances  and  the  desire  of  the  well-to-do  to  aid  the  more 
unfortunate  ones. 


[251] 


538  BULLETIN    OF    THE    UNIVERSITY    OP    WISCONSIN 


CHAPTER  XIV 

THE  PRAIRIE  PIONEER 


So  far  in  the  march  of  the  frontiersmen  to'vvard  the  "West,  the- 
way  had  been  blazed  by  the  hunter-pioneer  type.  The  woods- 
men from  Kentucky  and  Tennessee,  impelled  by  an  increasing 
desire  to  claim  new  lands  had,  by  sheer  force  pushed  the  frontier 
line  slowly  towards  the  western  horizon.  Behind  this  class 
of  settlers  came  another  which  moved  more  slowly  and  which 
for  a  time  seemed  to  be  outstripped  in  the  race  for  new  lands. 
Small  farmers  composed  the  class.  They  were  not  constantly 
changing  their  locations  but  rather  were  content  to  remain  in 
one  place  until  they  could  dispose  of  their  farms  with  some 
profit.  By  1830,  therefore,  the  frontier  line  of  the  farmers  was 
far  in  the  rear  of  that  of  the  woodsman. 

Physiography,  however,  caused  the  two  classes  to  meet  and 
oppose  each  other  in  the  state  of  Illinois.  Bounded  on  the  south 
by  the  Ohio  river,  the  highway  of  the  hunter-pioneer  from  the 
Southwest;  and  covered  by  a  network  of  streams  on  whose 
banks  were  groves  of  hard  wood,  Illinois  was  first  sought  by 
the  pioneers  from  Kentucky  and  Tennessee.  Slowly,  at  first, 
these  groves  were  taken  up,  but  by  the  early  twenties1  the  San- 
gamon  country  had  been  reached  and  soon  the  valley  of  the 
Illinois  was  the  site  of  hunters'  cabins.  It  seems  that  a  part 
of  the  wave  of  frontiersmen,  which  was  crossing  the  valley  of 
the  Mississippi,  paused,  turned  northward  and  followed  the 
line  of  the  Illinois  river  towards  the  prairies. 

By  1830  the  noise  of  the  southern  axe  and  the  crack  of  the 
southern  rifle  were  heard  along  northern  Illinois  rivers,  but 
before  the  decade  was  two  years  old  the  outbreak  of  Black 

[252] 


POOLEY SETTLEMENT    OF    ILLINOIS,    1830-50  539 

Hawk's  warriors  drove  even  the  most  venturesome  back  to  the 
stronger  settlements  of  the  south.  The  re-occupation  of  the 
territory  was  slow,  the  advance  cautious  and  the  volume  of  the 
stream  from  the  South  slight.  An  improvement  in  transpor- 
tation facilities  now  took  place  which  gave  the  agricultural 
settlers  an  advantage  in  the  westward  movement,  and  by  open- 
ing a  line  of  direct  communication  with  the  East,  allowed  the 
farmer  to  compete  with  the  hunter  for  the  first  occupation  of 
northern  Illinois. 

Boats  of  any  considerable  size  were  few  on  the  Great  Lakes 
and  few  indeed,  at  first,  were  the  immigrants  who  came  to  Ill- 
inois by  the  lake  route.  The  advent  of  steam  navigation  brought 
a  flood  of  settlers  from  the  East.    Yankees  and  New  Yorkers, 
despised  by  the  men  of  the  Southwest,  were  poured  upon  the 
prairies  of  Illinois  and  took  up  the  woodlands  coveted  by  the 
Kentuckians  and  Tennesseeans  before  the  latter  could  recover 
the  ground  lost  in  the  Black  Hawk  War.  Consequently,  a  bound- 
ary was  placed  to  the  activity  of  the  hunter-pioneer  in  Illinois. 
So  far  in  the  movement  of  settlement  across  the  continent  the 
large  farmer  had  followed  in  the  wake  of  the  hunter  and  the 
small  farmer,  buying  up  the  clearings  of  the  latter,  extending 
their    limits    and    devoting    himself    to    intensive    cultivation. 
Navigation  of  the  lakes  by  steam  reversed  the  order  of  things 
and  the  man  twho  was  formerly  in  the  rear  guard  of  this  army 
of  occupation  was  now  in  the  front  ranks.       In  the  sense  of 
making  clearings  for  cultivation  he  was  not  a  pioneer,  for  nature 
had  already  made  clearings  on  a  scale  so  vast  that  the  settlers 
who  wished  to  take  advantage  of  them  must  of  necessity  become 
the  pathfinders  in  the  solution  of  the  new  problem  which  con- 
fronted the  advancing  frontier.     A  direct  line  of  water  com- 
munication with  the  East,  therefore,  confronted  the  best  New 
England  stock,  and  the  substantial  men  of  the  Middle  States 
with  the  question  of  the  occupancy  of  the  prairie.     In  short, 
northern  Illinois  did  not  go  through  the  ordinary   evolution  - 
which  marks  the  growth  of  settlement  in  the  wooded  sections 
of  the  West,  for  the  permanent  occupants  of  the  soil  were  the 
first  occupants. 

At  the  opening  of  the  period,  1831-1850,  the  great  prairies 

[253] 


540  BULLETIN    OF    THE    UNIVERSITY    OF    WISCONSIN 

which  extended  over  central,  eastern  and  northern  Illinois, 
were  scarcely  marked  by  improvements  save  on  the  southern 
and  western  bounds,  and  then  only  to  a  very  limited  degree. 
The  hunter-pioneer  had  shunned  them,  firmly  believing  that  ow- 
ing to  many  disadvantages  they  never  would  be  settled.1  This 
belief  is  only  a  repetition  of  the  prophecy  of  Monroe,  made  half 
a  century  before,  when  he  said,  "the  districts  .  .  .  will 
never  contain  a  sufficient  number  of  inhabitants  to  entitle  them 
to  membership  in  the  confederacy."2 

Inviting  as  were  the  prairies  in  appearance,  there  was  a  sense 
of  vastness  connected  'with  them  which  seemed  to  overpower  the 
observer,  leaving  on  him  an  impression  of  greatness  which  could 
not  be  subdued.  They  offered  a  new  problem  for  the  pioneer 
to  solve  and  of  necessity  he  was  compelled  to  approach  it  cau- 
tiously at  first. 

Thus  far  the  settler  in  Illinois  had  by  dint  of  hard  work 
cleared  small  tracts  of  land  on  the  borders  of  the  rivers,  erected 
his  cabin  and  planted  a  crop  of  grain,  trusting  that  from  small 
beginnings  he  would,  in  time,  be  able  to  widen  the  limits  of 
his  clearing  to  more  respectable  dimensions.  "Wood  and  water 
he  had  in  abundance  and  where  these  were  lacking  he  thought 
was  no  fit  habitation  for  man.  Moreover,  the  timber  always 
proved  a  welcome  protection  from  the  icy  winds  of  winter  and 
the  myriads  of  flies  in  the  summer.3 

Timber  was  scarce  on  the  prairies  and  what  little  there  was, 
was  grouped  along  the  river  courses  leaving  vast  stretches  of 
country  without  shade.  Here  and  there  stood  a  bunch  of 
scrubby  oaks,  sometimes  interspersed  with  rough  and  stunted 
pine  and  black  walnut,  hazel  brush  and  long  tough  grass.  From 
appearances  the  settlers  reasoned  that  the  sterility  of  the  soil 
was  responsible  for  such  lack  of  development  in  the  timber  and 
the  name  "barrens"  was  given  to  such  lands. 

The  water  supply,  too,  was  a  most  serious  objection  to  any 
attempt  to  cultivate  the  prairies.  In  some  places  the  land  was 
low  and  swampy  and  required  draining.  Fever  and  ague  at- 


1  Personal  Recollection^  of  John  M.  Palmer,  12. 

2  Monroe,  Writings,  1,  117. 

8  Henderson,  History  of  the  Sangamon  Country,  174. 

[254] 


POOLEY SETTLEMENT    OF    ILLINOIS,,    1830-50  541 

tacked  the  settlers  in  these  parts  of  the  prairie  and  proved  a 
great  drawback  to  settlement.4  In  other  places  running  water 
was  exceedingly  scarce — so  scarce  that  it  would  necessitate  dig- 
ging wells  should  the  settler  desire  to  keep  any  stock.5 

Necessity,  however,  caused  expansion  and  practically  forced 
the  first  stream  of  settlers  out  upon  the  prairies.  The  earli- 
est arrivals  had  very  naturally  taken  up  their  abode  on  the  edge 
of  the  timber,  appropriating  a  certain  amount  of  it  for  use  in 
building  cabins,  out-houses  and  fences.  The  later  comers  could 
do  but  one  of  two  things,  either  move  farther  west  where  all  the 
timber  was  not  taken,  or  move  on  to  the  prairie,  going  no  far- 
ther than  circumstances  compelled  them. 

The  prairies  improved  upon  acquaintance  and  gradually  the 
more  venturesome  cut  loose  from  the  woodlands  and  selected 
the  higher  portions  of  the  prairie  but  in  doing  so  they  were  care- 
ful to  remain  as  near  as  possible  to  a  road.  The  fertility  of  the 
soil  abundantly  repaid  any  additional  labor  necessary  for  the 
hauling  of  fuel,  rails  or  house  timber.  In  some  cases,  fuel  was 
furnished  by  nature,  for  where  timber  failed,  coal  was  often 
found6  and  could  be  mined  at  a  small  cost.7 

Still,  timber  land  was  so  highly  prized  by  the  settlers  that  it 
would  bring  more  money  than  a  cultivated  farm  of  prairie  land. 
The  lack  of  timber  was  soon  partially  overcome,  however,  for 
the  settlers  early  began  to  experiment  with  young  timber  and 
it  did  not  take  long  to  find  out  that  within  a  comparatively 
short  time  quite  large  trees  could  be  gro'wn  from  seed.8 

Reports  of  a  climate  severe  in  winter  and  productive  of 
epidemics  in  summer  made  many  question  the  advisability  of 
emigrating  thither.  Although  the  climate  of  northern  Illinois 
seemed  to  be  about  the  same  as  that  in  New  England,  on  the 
average,  it  was  also  subject  to  greater  changes.9  The  snow 


4  Lewis,  Impressions^  277. 

B  New  York  Weekly  Tribune,  Aug.  30,  1848. 

8  Harding,  Tours  Through  the  Western  Country,  8. 

''New  York  Weekly  Tribune,  Sept.  15,  1845,  says  the  cost  of  coal  was  but 
three  cents  per  bushel.  It  also  gives  the  price  of  land  as  follows :  unimproved 
prairie  land,  one  and  one-fourth  to  eight  dollars  per  acre ;  improved  prairie  land, 
seven  to  twenty  dollars  per  acre;  and  Improved  timber  land,  eight  to  twenty 
dollars  per  acre. 

8  Jones,  Illinois  and  the  West,  35. 

»New  York  Weekly  Tribune,  Aug.  30,  1848. 

[255] 


-542  BULLETIN    OF    THE    UNIVERSITY    OF    WISCONSIN 

did  not  fall  in  such  quantities  as  in  New  England  but  the  cold 
was  more  intense  and  the  winds  which  swept  the  prairies  were 
harder  to  bear  in  these  exposed  districts.  Domestic  animals 
sometimes  fell  victims  to  the  hard  prairie  winters10  and  occa- 
sionally some  unfortunate  person  froze  to  death.11  It  appears, 
however,  that  such  winters  were  exceptional  and  when  one  hap- 
pened to  be  colder  than  usual  it  was  recorded.  The  winter  of 
1830-31  was  one  long  remembered  in  Illinois.  Snow  fell  al- 
most continuously  from  November  until  January,  measuring  in 
some  places  twelve  feet  in  depth.12  It  was  taken  by  many  of 
the  old  pioneers  as  a  convenient  event  from  which  to  reckon 
time,  showing  that  such  severity  of  the  climate  was  not  by  any 
means  a  common  thing. 

All  through  the  period  during  which  emigration  came  in  large 
numbers  to  Illinois,  a  constant  discussion  was  kept  up  as  to 
whether  or  not  the  climate  was  favorable  to  the  health  of  the 
settlers.  So  important  was  the  question  and  so  much  effect  did 
the  discussion  have  upon'  travelers,  newspaper  men  and  writers 
of  emigrant  guide  books,  that  in  many  places  comments  are  made 
upon  the  general  condition  of  health  in  the  newly  settled  dis- 
tricts. 

An  examination  of  the  statements  made  by  both  sides  reveal 
the  fact  that  there  was  a  considerable  amount  of  sickness  in  the 
new  settlements  and  the  older  ones  which  were  located  along  the 
river  valleys.  One  account  says  that  in  1840  "at  Oregon  City 
more  than  seven-eights  of  the  inhabitants  were  sick  at  one  time ; 
•at  Daysville  and  at  Watertown  in  a  population  of  ninety  or 
one  hundred  inhabitants  not  more  than  six  or  eight  escaped; 
and  on  the  Illinois  and  Mississippi  rivers  hundreds  were  sick 
and  many  more  died  in  proportion  to  the  number  of  inhabi- 
tants than  on  Rock  River."13  This  is  later  modified  by  another 
writer  who,  while  he  admits  that  in  the  early  days  on  Rock  River 
there  was  much  sickness,  says  that,  ' '  Since  that  time  the  mortal- 
ity of  northern  Illinois  has  ranged  on  a  per  cent,  that  would 
contrast  favorably  with  what  are  generally  deemed  the  most 


l«  Illinois  Monthly  Magazine,  2,  100. 
"  A  Winter  in  the  West,  1,  202. 
13  History  of  Greene  County,  286. 
•"  The  Neio  Yorker,  May  30,  1840. 

[256] 


POOLEY SETTLEMENT    OF    ILLINOIS,    1830-50  543 

salubrious  sections  of  the  Union — the  New  England  States."1* 

It  was  generally  conceded  that  those  people  who  settled  on  the 
higher  portions  of  the  prairies  escaped  the  fevers  and  the  ague 
which  infested  the  regions  around  the  rivers  and  in  the  low 
prairies.  Exposure  to  hardships,  lack  of  a  comfortable  habita- 
tion, unwise  selections  of  places  for  the  building  of  houses,  the 
change  of  food15  and  overwork16  caused  as  much  sickness  as  did 
unhealthful  locations.  In  spite  of  adverse  tales  from  the  prairie 
land  and  in  spite  of  the  distance  from  the  eastern  states  and  the 
inconveniences  and  slowness  of  travel  a  continuous  stream  of  set- 
tlers spread  over  the  prairies  and  began  to  build  homes  and  to 
till  the  land. 

As  was  the  case  in  southern  Illinois,  the  first  habitations  of 
the  settlers  were  log  cabins  built  close  to  the  edge  of  the  timber 
for  protection  from  the  wind  and  that  fuel  and  timber  for 
outbuildings  and  fences  might  be  easily  obtained.  Generally 
these  cabins  had  but  a  single  room,  but  occasionally  two  or  even 
three.  Boards,  shingles  and  puncheons  were  all  made  by  the 
settlers  and,  while  rough,  they  answered  the  purpose  very  well. 
Windows  were  few,  most  of  the  light  coming  in  through  the  door 
and  chimney. 

In  early  days  lack  of  furniture  and  agricultural  implements 
was  the  rule,  not  the  exception.  One  man  came  to  begin  life 
in  the  new  country  with  no  other  equipment  than  "a  rifle  gun 
and  fifty  cents  worth  of  powder  and  lead,  a  little  scant  bedding 
and  a  skillet  and  piggin."  Another  had  but  a  "straw  tick,  a 
broken  skillet,  a  bucket,  a  rifle-gun,  a  butcher  knife  and  a  steel- 
yards."17 The  prairie  man  needed  more  goods  and  since  he 
generally  came  by  way  of  the  lakes  he  could  bring  such  furni- 
ture and  implements  of  agriculture  as  he  needed. 

Although  log  cabins  were  the  first  abodes  of  the  prairie  men 
they  were  not  satisfactory,  neither  did  they  last  long,  for  as  the 
pioneers  moved  farther  and  farther  from  the  timber  the  labor 
of  hauling  logs  grew  greater,  and  other  expedients  seemed  neces- 
sary. Houses  of  a  very  comfortable  kind  could  be  built  of  clay 


14  New  York  Weekly  Tribune,  Sept.  15,  1845. 

15  Illinois  Monthly  Magazine,  2,  51. 
"Albany  Cultivator,  8,  53. 
"History  of  Johnson  County  (Ind.),  330. 

17  [257] 


544 


BULLETIN    OF    THE    UNIVERSITY    OF    WISCONSIN 


and  roofed  with  lumber  at  no  very  great  expense,  provided  the 
place  was  not  too  far  removed  from  Chicago.18  In  1841  ordinary 
lumber  which  cost  from  eight  to  thirteen  dollars  a  thousand 
in  Chicago  sold  for  fifty-five  dollars  a  thousand  in  McDonough 
county  in  the  Military  Tract.19 

Transportation  was  the  great  expense  and  had  to  be  over- 
come, for  the  Yankee  was  not  satisfied  with  mud  cabins.  He  had 
not  lived  in  such  dwellings  in  New  England  and  therefore  he 
made  strenuous  efforts  to  increase  his  comforts.  Lumber, 
transported  by  way  of  the  Great  Lakes  and  hauled  overland 
from  Chicago  was  too  expensive,  but  lumber  was  necessary  and 
as  a  consequence  saw  mills  were  among  the  first  improvements 
in  the  new  country.  "With  the  advent  of  this  industry  the 
change  from  log  or  mud  cabins  to  more  comfortable  frame  houses 
was  by  no  means  slow.  Small,  at  first,  the  houses  of  the  settlers 
grew  as  necessity  required  and  wealth  permitted. 
=at  After  preparing  a  habitation,  be  it  a  mud  cabin  or  a  lumber 
shanty,  the  next  thing  which  the  settler  had  to  do  was  to  pre- 
pare some  land  upon  which  to  raise  a  crop  and  here,  too,  was 
a  problem  as  difficult  to  solve  as  the  erection  of  a  dwelling. 
True,  there  were  no  trees  to  clear  away  but  there  was  a  sod  to 
break  which  was  so  tough  that  it  would  yield  to  the  plow  but 
slowly.  Should  the  settler  hire  some  one  to  do  the  breaking  for 
him  the  expense  would  be  greater  than  the  cost  of  the  land 
itself.20  If  he  did  it  himself  the  process  was  slow  and  laborious. 
Operations  were  begun  during  the  last  days  of  April  and  finished 
by  the  first  of  July,21  for  the  sod  when  turned  over  must  have 
time  to  rot  or  it  would  remain  heavy  and  unproductive  for  two 
or  three  years.  At  the  first  plowing  it  was  customary  to  drop 
corn  in  every  second  or  third  furrow,  from  which  twenty  or 
thirty  bushels  to  the  acre  were  often  gathered.22 

Ox  teams  to  the  number  of  three,  four,  five  or  even  six  yokes 
were  used,  hitched  to  a  pair  of  cart  wheels  and  these  to  a  plow 


"American  Agriculturist,  (1843),  15. 

19  Chicago  Weekly  American,  Sept.  21,  1841. 

20  Marshall,  Farmers'  and  Emigrants'  Handbook,  403.     Land  cost  one  and  one- 
quarter  dollars  per  acre;  breaking  cost  one  and  one-half  dollars  per  acre. 

21  The  Cultivator  and  Farmer  (Albany),  1,  80. 

22  American  Agriculturist  (1843),  8,  15. 


[258] 


POOLEY SETTLEMENT    OF    ILLINOIS,    1830-50  545 

with  a  beam  fourteen  feet  long  and  a  share  which  weighed  any- 
where from  sixty  to  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  pounds.23 
The  furrow  cut  measured  from  sixteen24  to  thirty25  inches  in 
width,  and  from  two  to  six  in  depth.26  Deep  plowing  was  not 
as  satisfactory  as  the  more  shallow  plowing,  for  in  the  latter 
case  the  roots  of  the  grass  would  rot  more  quickly.27  In  some 
cases,  in  order  to  hasten  decomposition  of  the  matted  tangle  of 
roots,  the  land  was  cross-ploughed,  but  generally  this  was  not 
deemed  necessary. 

Estimates  as  to  the  amount  of  land  which  one  of  these  large 
"breaking  teams"  could  plow  in  a  day  varies  from  one  acre28 
to  two  and  one-fourth  acres.29  When  a  team  of  horses  was 
used  and  a  smaller  plow,  an  acre  was  considered  an  average 
day's  work.30  Between  eighty  and  one  hundred  acres  could  be 
plowed  in  a  season.31 .  Generally,  two  or  three  seasons  were 
necessary  to  decompose  the  sod  thoroughly  and  render  the  soil 
light  and  loose  enough  to  be  turned  readily  by  ordinary  plows. 

When  the  prairie  man  had  broken  his  land,  generally  about 
twenty-five  acres,  the  first  year,  and  had  planted  his  crop  of 
corn,  another  problem  presented  itself.  Fences  were  necessary 
to  protect  the  growing  fields  from  the  devastations  of  live  stock. 
When  the  farmer  had  access  to  timber  the  problem  did  not  pre- 
sent a  difficult  aspect,  for  a  rail  fence  could  be  made  with  a 
reasonable  amount  of  labor,  but  when  he  was  on  the  open  prairie, 
some  twenty  miles  from  timber,  another  solution  had  to  be 
found.  Some  firmly  believed  that  any  money  spent  on  fencing 
the  prairies  was  money  thrown  away;32  but  others  persisted  in 
experimenting.  Sod,  picket,  hedge,  board  and  lastly  wire  were 
tried.33  All  kinds  were  expensive,34  however,  with  the  exception 


23  American  Agriculturist  (1843),  1,  15. 

24  Ibid.,  1,  15. 

26  Madison  Express,  Dec.  1,  1841. 

*•  Albany  Cultivator,  8,  80,  or  Cultivator  and  Farmer,  1,  80. 

27  Ibid. 

28  American  Agriculturist  (1843),  1,  15. 

29  Prairie  Farmer,  (1847),  7,  140. 

30  Albany  Cultivator,  (1840),  7,  80. 
81  Prairie  Farmer,  (1847),  7,  140. 

32  American  Agriculturist  (1843),  1,  370. 

M  Prairie  Farmer,  6,  paslsim. 

34  Rail  fence  cost  over  one  hundred  and  forty  dollars  a  mile ;  wire  fence,  one 
hundred  and  fifty-six  and  one-hall  dollars  a  mile ;  board  fence,  one  hundred  and 
eighty-two  dollars  a  mile.  Prairie  Farmer,  8,  302. 

[259] 


546  BULLETIN    OF    THE    UNIVERSITY    OF    WISCONSIN 

of  the  hedge  fence,  and  this  'was  objectionable,  owing  to  the 
amount  of  grass  and  weeds  growing  up  around  it,  and  furnish- 
ing food  for  the  prairie  fires.35 

Prof.  J.  B.  Turner  of  Illinois  College  experimented  for  some 
time  with  various  shrubs,  hoping  to  find  some  one  which  would 
solve  the  problem  of  fence  for  the  prairie.  After  several  fail- 
ures he  found  the  osage  orange  would  answer  the  purpose  very 
well.36  Ditching,  embanking  and  surmounting  the  embank- 
ment by  a  three  rail  fence  was  also  found  to  be  satisfactory,  and 
was  used  to  some  extent,37  but  it,  like  other  fences  tried,  showed 
a  woeful  lack  of  ability  to  keep  the  farmer's  hogs  out  of  his 
•corn. 

Only  when  wire  was  at  last  manufactured  in  large  quantities 
at  a  comparatively  low  price  was  the  fence  problem  on  the 
prairie  solved.  Up  to  that  time  the  prairie  farmer  was  accus- 
tomed to  fence  larger  tracts  of  ground  for  cultivation  and  omit 
partition  fences,  leaving  all  his  fields  in  one.  It  was  advised 
that  this  method  should  be  followed  among  neighbors,  allowing 
them  the  protection  of  large  enclosing  fences  and  relieving  each 
>of  the  expense  of  division  fences.38  Often,  instead  of  fencing 
the  cultivated  portions  of  the  farm,  the  order  was  reversed  and 
the  stock  was  enclosed  in  pastures,  leaving  the  fields  open.39 

Gophers  and  prairie  chickens  added  materially  to  the  troubles 
of  the  prairie  farmers,  for  they  dug  and  scratched  out  newly 
planted  grain.40  Sometimes  the  ravages  of  these  offenders 
•necessitated  the  planting  of  a  field  as  often  as  three  times  in  a 
season,  and  then  the  farmers  would  sometimes  get  only  half  a 
crop.  Men,  boys,  dogs  and  all  available  combatants  were  en- 
listed against  the  pests  and  regularly  organized  gopher  hunts 
were  sometimes  indulged  in.41  A  more  dangerous  antagonist 
was  found  in  the  prairie  wolf.  This  animal  had  a  great  capacity 
for  stealing  young  pigs,  robbing  hen-houses  and  committing  other 
depredations.  To  clear  the  country  of  them,  hunts  were  also 


35  Marshall,  Farmers'  and  Emigrants'  Handbook,  97. 

39  Willard,  Early  Education  in  Illinois,  115. 
"Marshall,  Farmers'  and  Emigrants'  Handbook,  97. 
88  American  Agriculturist,  (1843),  1,  15. 

*•  Reynolds,  Sketches,  102. 

40  The  New  Yorker,  May  22,  1841. 

**  Weekly  Chicago  Democrat,  May  26,  1848. 

[260] 


POOLEY SETTLEMENT    OF    ILLINOIS,    1830-50  547 

organized42  and  the  days  upon  which  they  took  place  were 
holidays. 

Wheat  and  corn  were  the  staple  products  of  the  prairie,  but 
oats,  potatoes,  turnips  and  buckwheat  were  also  cultivated  with 
success.  Fruit,  however,  did  not  bring  good  returns  to  the 
farmer.  Prices  were  far  from  encouraging,43  the  fact  being 
probably  due  to  the  lack  of  a  market.  Since  supplies  could  be 
obtained  at  very  reasonable  rates  at  the  lake  ports,  and  since 
prices  paid  for  farm  produce  were  higher  in  the  lake  cities,44 
Chicago  was  the  natural  center  for  Illinois  produce.  Although. 
Chicago  was  a  great  deal  over  a  hundred  miles  from  the  central, 
Illinois  counties,  the  farmers  came  in  numbers  from  this  part 
of  the  state,  as  well  as  from  the  north  to  sell  their  grain  at  this- 
place  and  to  take  their  supplies  from  it.  The  market  was  so-. 
far,  that  sometimes  the  farmers  could  go  but  once  a  year;  some- 
times they  went  more  than  once.  In  some  cases  a  number  of 
neighbors  would  club  together,  load  one  or  two  wagons,  hitch. 
two  or  three  yoke  of  oxen  to  each  wagon  and  so  haul  their  prod- 
uce.45 It  was  not  an  uncommon  sight  in  the  autumn  after 
the  harvests  were  gathered  to  see  in  one  day  two  hundred 
wagons,  all  loaded  with  farm  produce,46  rattling  their  way  along 
the  old  State  Road  from  Galena  to  Chicago. 

In  the  early  forties  high  rates  for  transportation  along  the 
Erie  canal  did  much  to  keep  western  farmers  from  shipping  their 
produce  to  New  York;  but  a  considerable  amount,  howeverr 
found  its  way  thither.47  "While  this  operated  against  the  west- 
ern farmer  and  tended  to  depress  his  market,  another  influence 
from  the  East  tended  to  make  the  lake  route  the  natural  high- 
way for  western  produce  to  the  East.  England  in  the  forties- 
levied  a  discriminating  tariff  upon  foreign  wheat,  flour,  beef, 
pork  and  lard.  Canadian  flour  was  admitted  into  English 


a  History  of  Coles  County,  464. 

*3  History  of  Coles  County,  460;  Lothrop,  Champaign  County  Directory,  125; 
Prices  were  as  follows :  Wheat  twenty-five  to  thirty-seven  and  one-half  cents 
per  bushel,  In  the  best  years  sixty  cents ;  oats  eight  to  nineteen1  cents ;  corn 
ten  to  twenty-five  cents ;  hogs  twenty-five  cents  to  one  and  one-half  dollars  per 
hundred  weight ;  a  cow  and  a  calf  eight  dollars  and  a  good  horse  forty  dollars.. 

"Madison  (Wis.)  Enquirer,  Aug.  11,  1841. 

«  Anderson,  First  Chapter  of  Norwegian  Immigration,  228. 

49  Past  and  Present  of  Kane  County,  460. 

"Albany  Cultivator,   (1842),  150. 

[261] 


548  BULLETIN    OF    THE    UNIVERSITY    OF    WISCONSIN 

ports  at  one  dollar  less  per  barrel  than  flour  from  other  coun- 
tries. Similar  favors  were  shown  in  other  produce.  It  did 
not  take  the  Yankee  or  New  Yorker  of  northern  Illinois  long 
to  see  that  he  could  ship  his  wheat  to  Canada,  have  it  made  into 
flour  there  and  take  advantage  of  the  discriminating  duty  in 
that  manner.48  This  tended  to  center  the  wheat  industry  at 
Chicago  and  the  growth  of  this  industry  is  noticeable  during 
these  years. 

In  spite  of  low  prices,  however,  agriculture  flourished  and 
offered  better  returns  to  the  western  farmer  than  to  the  eastern 
man.  Less  labor  by  one-half  was  needed,  less  capital  was  in- 
vested; the  average  yield  per  acre  was  more  in  the  West  than 
in  the  East  and  the  cost  of  lake  transportation  Was  low  enough 
to  allow  the  western  man  to  compete  successfully  in  the  eastern 
market.49  The  great  problem  before  the  farmer  was  how  to 
reach  one  of  these  lake  ports  to  dispose  of  his  produce  as  well 
as  to  receive  lumber  and  other  necessaries.  The  outgrowth  of 
these  desires  was  the  internal  improvement  system  of  the 
thirties. 

The  Illinois-Michigan  canal  was  of  primary  importance  in 
the  Illinois  internal  improvement  system.  Joliet  was  perhaps 
the  first  to  notice  the  possibility  of  connecting  the  Illinois  river 
and  Lake  Michigan  by  a  canal.50  Governor  Bond  at  the  first 
meeting  of  the  Illinois  legislature  in  1818  brought  up  the  sub- 
ject of  the  canal;  his  successor,  Governor  Coles,  devoted  some 
space  to  it  in  his  message  of  1822.  A  board  of  commissioners 
was  appointed  in  1828  and  two  years  later  an  act  to  incorporate 
the  canal  with  a  capital  of  $1,000,000  was  passed;  but  failure 
to  have  the  stock  subscribed  caused  the  plan  to  fall  through  for 
the  time.  In  1827,  Congress  granted  to  the  state  of  Illinois 
every  alternate  section  in  a  belt  of  country  extending  six  miles 
on  either  side  of  the  canal,  and  in  1829  a  canal  board  was  or- 
ganized.51 In  1835  the  first  loan  was  made  and  work  began 
in  1836,  continuing  until  March,  1843,  during  which  time  the 


48  Executive  Documents,  190,  28  Cong.,  1  Sess. 
*•  New  York  Weekly  Tribune,  Sept.  15,  1845. 
60  Hulburt,  Antiquities  of  Chicago,  147. 
81  De  Bow's  Review,  17,  266. 

[262] 


POOLEY SETTLEMENT    OF    ILLINOIS,    1880-50  549 

state  expended  $4,679,494  on  the  project.52  In  September,  1845, 
the  work  was  resumed  and  by  1848  was  completed.53 

Other  improvements  besides  the  canal  were  planned ;  $100,000 
was  to  be  expended  for  the  improvement  of  the  Great  Wabash, 
a  like  sum  on  the  Illinois  and  also  on  the  Rock  river;  the  Kas- 
kaskia  and  Little  Wabash  were  to  get  $50,000  each  for  improve- 
ments; the  Great  Western  mail  route  from  Vincennes  to  St. 
Louis,  $250,000;  the  Central  railroad  from  Cairo  to  Galena; 
the  Southern  Crossroad  from  Alton  to  Mt.  Carmel;  the  North- 
ern Crossroad  from  Quincy  to  the  Indiana  state  line,  and  other 
minor  roads  were  to  be  built.54 

The  immensity  of  the  system  can  best  be  grasped  by  noticing 
statistics.  A  census  taken  in  1835  records  the  population  of 
the  state  as  271,700  ;55  in  1900  it  was  4,821,550.56  The  debt 
authorized  for  these  improvements  in  the  first  instance  was 
$10,230,000,  but  the  estimate  was  found  to  be  too  low  by  half 
and  the  state  was  committed  to  a  liability  of  $20,000,000  or  at 
the  same  ratio  today  the  debt  would  amount  to  some  $350,000,- 
000,  a  debt  which  the  state  would  not  care  to  assume. 

So  intent  were  the  people  in  providing  markets,  in  furnishing 
suitable  transportation  facilities  and  thereby  opening  up  the 
resources  of  their  state,  that  they  did  not  count  the  cost,  seeing 
only  results.  The  immediate  results  were  not  what  had  been 
anticipated  and  with  the  breaking  of  the  bubble  of  speculation 
and  the  collapse  of  the  system  as  planned  in  Illinois1,  the  finances 
of  the  state  were  almost  ruined,  simply  because  it  had  not  the 
strength  to  solve  the  transportation  problem.57 

The  livestock  industry  developed  rapidly  on  the  prairies. 
Abundant  pastures  were  within  the  reach  of  all,  and  the  farmer 
naturally  developed  the  grazing  industry.  As  early  as  1818, 
some  Illinois  farmers  had  made  it  a  business  to  raise  cattle  for 
the  Baltimore  and  Philadelphia  markets,58  and  the  industry  had 


"  Moses,  Illinois,  1,  465. 

83  Davidson  and  Stuv6,  Illinois,  485-G. 

84  Davidson  and  Stuv6,  Illinois,  436. 
88 /bid.,  438. 

M  Twelfth  Census,  (1900),  Population,  1,  16. 
87  Scott,  Repudiation  of  State  Debts,  199-217. 

M  Warden,  Statistical,  Political  and  Historical  Account  of  the  United  States,  3, 
2. 

[263] 


550  BULLETIN    OF    THE    UNIVERSITY    OF    WISCONSIN 

grown  steadily.  Before  1850  thousands  of  cattle  were  raised 
on  the  prairies  of  Illinois,  Missouri  and  lo'wa  each  year  and 
sold  to  drovers  who  took  them  to  Ohio  to  fatten  for  the  eastern 
markets.50 

In  spite  of  the  fact  that  sheep  could  not  be  kept  upon  the 
prairies  without  considerable  attention,  especially  during  the 
winter  months,  the  industry  rapidly  gained  favor  among  the 
farmers.  Heavy  losses  were  at  first  experienced,  due  chiefly  to 
mismanagement,  for  the  animals  usually  purchased  in  western 
New  York  or  Philadelphia  were  driven  the  entire  distance  dur- 
ing the  hot  summer  months  or  the  colder  ones  of  autumn  to  a 
new  home  where  scarcely  any  provision  had  been  made  for  their 
shelter.60  As  a  consequence  many  died. 

Gaining  knowledge  by  experience,  the  various  branches  of 
industry  were  soon  put  upon  an  excellent  paying  basis.  Some 
found  stock  raising  profitable,  others  adapted  themselves  to  the 
cultivation  of  grain  which  at  first  was  harvested  and  threshed 
by  hand ;  but  before  1850  these  primitive  methods  had  given  way 
to  more  improved  ones.  Drills  were  used  in  planting  the  seed; 
mowing  machines  'were  used  in  cutting  the  hay  and  reapers  for 
the  grain ;  threshing  machines,  too,  were  used  before  the  period 
was  over.61 

The  effect  of  machinery  upon  the  amount  of  produce  was 
marked.  In  1850  Illinois  was  fifth  among  the  states  in  the 
amount  of  wheat  produced ;  in  1860  it  was  first  with  an  annual 
product  of  more  than  23,800,000  bushels.62  In  1840  Illinois 
•was  seventh  in  the  production  of  Indian  corn;  in  1850  it  was 
third  with  an  annual  output  of  nearly  57,650,000  bushels 
and  ten  years  later  it  led  all  the  states,  producing  over 
115,000,000  bushels  or  nearly  one-seventh  of  the  entire  amount 
produced.63  Like  increases  appeared  in  other  productions.64 


B9  The  Prairie  Farmer,  9,  305. 

60  American  Agriculturist,  4,  247. 

61  Curtiss,  Witetern  Portraiture,  291. 

62  Eighth  Census,   (1860),  Agriculture,  29, 
™iUd.,  46,  47, 

64  Bunt's  Merchants'  Magazine,  5,  436,  gives  statistics  for  1840;  Abstract  of 
the  Seventh  Census,   (1850),  £9-90,  gives  statistics  for  1850: 


[264] 


POOLEY SETTLEMENT    OF    ILLINOIS,    1830-50  551 

With  the  increased  ability  for  handling  large  crops  and  with- 
the  possibility  of  increased  land  communication  the  farms  tended 
to  increase  in  size.  Practically,  the  prairie  man  had  done  all 
he  could  in  the  way  of  subduing  these  vast  stretches  of  land. 
The  railroads  were  now  necessary  to  solve  the  remaining  prob- 
lems. Each  successive  wave  of  settlement  helped  to  add  cells  to* 
the  comb  already  forming  on  the  edge  of  the  prairies;  but  the 
process  of  assimilation  was  slow  save  where  a  line  of  transpor- 
tation added  its  influence. 

Pioneer  saw  mills  worked  away  steadily  causing  a  transition 
from  the  log-cabin  age  to  that  of  lumber  houses,  but  the  change 
was  slow  at  first.  Previous  to  the  opening  of  the  Illinois-Mich- 
igan canal,  lumber  sold  at  sixty  dollars  a  thousand  in  Ottawa  ; 
but  the  first  load  through  the  canal  cut  the  price  in  two  and 
successive  loads  reduced  it  still  more.  Freight  rates  the  other 
way  were  high;  at  first  the  price  for  transporting  wheat  from 
Ottawa  to  Chicago  was  twelve  and  one-half  cents  per  bushel. 
Later  it  dropped  to  eight  and  then  to  four  cents  per  bushel,65  a 
price  which  the  farmers  were  glad  to  pay  to  have  their  produce- 
taken  across  the  swampy  country  around  Chicago.  This  was 
in  only  one  locality,  however,  and  the  other  parts  of  the  state 
were  sadly  in  need  of  transportation  facilities  to  assist  in  their 
development. 

The  life  of  the  pioneer  has  characteristics  which  are  the  same 
no  matter  what  his  location  may  be.  While  new  difficulties 
were  encountered  by  the  prairie  pioneer,  and  he  himself,  gen- 
erally speaking,  was  different  from  the  pioneer  of  southern 
Illinois,  there  were  characteristics  which  these  two  types  of  set- 
tlers held  in  common. 

The  first  settlers  of  the  southern  part  of  the  state  were  often 


1840  1850 

Horses    and    mules 200,741  278,220 

Cattle  612,000  912,000 

Hogs     1,446,000  1,916,000 

Sheep 487,000  894,000 

Bushels  of  wheat 3,263,500  9,414,600' 

Bushels   of  oats    5,682,000  10,087,241 

Bushels  of  corn   22,524,000  57,647,000 

Lbs.  of  tobacco   475,250  841,394 

M  Illustrated  History  of  La  Satte  County,  1,  212. 

[265] 


552  BULLETIN    OF    THE    UNIVERSITY    OF    WISCONSIN 

of  the  wandering  type  and  were  constantly  seeking  new  homes. 
These  pioneers  were  followed  by  a  second  class  of  settlers  who 
generally  had  some  property  and  were  able  to  pay  cash  for  at 
least  part  of  their  lands,  and  to  make  additional  improvements. 
Lastly,  came  the  man  of  property  whose  idea  was  to  cultivate 
the  land  in  the  best  possible  manner  and  become  a  permanent 
resident.60 

The  pioneers  of  the  first  class  were  poor,  indeed,  enjoying  few 
of  the  comforts  of  life  and  too  often  were  so  lazy  as  to  make  no 
effort  whatever  to  better  their  condition.  They  lived  in  rags 
and  idleness,  providing  for  their  families  by  hunting  and  oc- 
casionally cultivating  a  small  patch  of  corn  and  vegetables  but 
doing  no  other  work,  leading,  on  the  whole,  a  most  shiftless  life 
and  seeking  no  advancement.  Morality,  too,  was  of  a  low 
standard  especially  among  these  people  and  the  poorer  European 
immigrants  who  settled  in  the  South.67 

The  second  and  third  classes  were  much  advanced  beyond 
the  first.  These  people  aimed  to  advance  their  material  condi- 
tion and  worked  constantly  to  accomplish  their  object. 

Immigration  to  Northern  Illinois  after  the  opening  of  steam 
navigation  on  the  Great  Lakes  reached  such  a  volume  that  it 
seems  impossible  to  make  any  such  classification  as  has  been 
made  for  Southern  Illinois.  There  was  no  gradual  procession 
of  types  but  an  influx  of  the  agricultural  type.  So  rapidly  was 
the  land  filled  up  that  a  residence  of  three  months  in  Chicago, 
for  example,  gave  one  the  right  to  be  recognized  as  an  old 
settler.68 

Travelers  through  this  part  of  the  state  give  conflicting  ac- 
counts regarding  the  inhabitants  and  their  homes.  The  general 
sentiment  seemed  to  be  that  the  settlers  were  of  a  class  superior 
to  fhe  early  pioneers  of  the  southern  counties.  In  many  places 
"neat  white  houses,  tasteful  piazzas,  neat  enclosures  and  newly 
planted  shrubberies"  gave  evidence  of  New  Englanders  or  peo- 
ple from  the  Middle  Atlantic  states.69  The  people,  as  a  rule, 
were  contented  with  their  homes  and  evinced  no  desire  to  emi- 


ee  \Vyse,  America,  Its  Realities  and  Resources,  2,  349-352. 
«  Christian  Examiner,  87,  272. 
«  A  Winter  in  the  West,  1,  200. 
*>  Ibid.,  2,  62. 

[266] 


POOLEY SETTLEMENT    OF    ILLINOIS,    1830-50  553 

grate,70  save  a  few  who  desired  to  go  to  the  Oregon  territory. 
Occasionally  surprise  is  manifested  at  the  character  and  intel- 
ligence of  settlers.71  • 

The  frontier,  however,  seems  always  to  have  been  also  the 
home  of  a  disreputable  class  of  people,  and  northern  Illinois 
was  no  exception  to  the  rule.  The  more  quiet  citizens  were 
constantly  terrified  by  gangs  of  horse  thieves,  robbers,  mur- 
derers and  counterfeiters.  For  years  southern  Illinois  had  been 
infested  by  such  individuals  and  as  the  frontier  moved  north- 
ward across  the  state,  these  bands  of  desperadoes  followed  it.72" 
The  islands  of  the  Mississippi  and  the  groves  along  its  banks 
were  homes  for  such  bands.73 

The  heterogeneous  character  of  settlement  in  the  northwestern 
part  of  the  state  is  described  by  a  New  York  paper  of  the  time. 
It  says;  "The  settlers  here  are  all  descriptions  of  people;  for- 
eigners, Canadians,  Hoosiers,  Buckeyes,  Marylanders,  Virgin- 
ians, Kentuckians,  Yankees,  etc.,  with  a  large  share  of  cut- 
throats, blacklegs,  murderers,  counterfeiters,  robbers,  thieves  and 
all  manner  of  scamps  that  infest  a  newly-settled  country;  and 
what  is  still  worse  .  .  .  when  any  such  rascals  are  caught, 
which  is  seldom,  there  is  no  such  thing  as  putting  the  law  in 
force  or  convicting  them  in  anyway  before  they  will  be  smuggled 
out  of  the  reach  of  justice  and  get  clear."74  "While  the  illus- 
stration  may  be  exaggerated  somewhat  and  intended  to  check 
the  flow  of  population  it  also  serves1  to  show  that  among  the  law- 
abiding  settlers  there  were  also  many  who  were  a  decided  detri- 
ment to  the  country. 

Such  conditions  did  not  exist  everywhere.  The  frontier,  it 
is  said,  brings  out  the  worst  as  well  as  the  best  of  men's  char- 
acters and  incidents  may  be  cited  to  prove  this.  During  the 
early  mining  days  at  Galena,  men  from  the  South  and  West 
congregated  to  work  the  mines,  and  these  men  as  a  class  pos- 


70  Scott,  Journal  of  a  Missionary  Tour  (1843),  107. 
n  The  New  Yorker,  Aug.  19,  1837. 

"Barber,  History  of  all  the  Western  States  and  Territories,  248. 

73  The  names  of  the  Driskel  brothers,  Daggett,  Bowman,  and  others  for  years 
were  connected  in  the  minds  of  the  settlers  with  every  outrage  committed  in 
the  northwestern  counties.  Galena  Gazette  and  Northwestern  Advertiser, 
July  6,  1841. 

71  The  New  Yorker,  May  30,  1840. 

[267] 


554  BULLETIN-    OF    THE    UNIVERSITY    OF    WISCONSIN 

sessed  and  practiced  many  of  the  noblest  traits  of  manhood, 
"As  an  illustration  of  their  innate  integrity  of  character  it  is 
perhaps  only  necessary  to  state  that  locks  and  keys  were  un- 
known in  the  country  and  all  places  of  abode  were  always  left 
unfastened  and  open  to  the  reception  of  all,  who  received  a 
cordial  welcome  and  a  free  invitation  to  partake  of  every  hos- 
pitality the  'dug-out'  or  shanty  afforded.  Debts  were  con- 
tracted without  reserve  at  the  first  interview  With  a  new  comer 
and  he  seldom  ever  failed  to  meet  his  promise  of  payment.  "7* 

Most  noticeable  of  characteristics  common  alike  to  the  pio- 
neers of  the  prairie  and  the  woodland  was  that  of  boundless 
hospitality.  The  new  settler  was  received  kindly  and  given 
substantial  aid  by  those  who  had  been  in  the  country  longer ;  his- 
cabin  was  quickly  built  and  often  in  addition  to  assistance  thus 
received  it  'was  not  improbable  that  the  friendly  neighbors 
would  furnish  the  new  settler  with  some  live  stock  if  he  had 
none.76  One  would  give  poultry;  another,  a  hog;  a  third,  a 
calf  and  so  on  until  there  would  be  quite  a  drove  of  stock  upon 
the  clearing.  No  matter  how  poor  the  new  settler  might  be,  if 
he  did  not  show  a  prospensity  to  dispute  over  trifles  or  to  com- 
plain of  the  disadvantages  of  the  new  country,  and  criticise  the 
manners  and  habits  of  the  people,  and  cite  the  superiority  of 
things  in  the  place  from  whence  he  came,  he  would  be  received 
with  blunt  frankness  and  unaffected  hospitality.  His  reception 
was  just  as  much  of  the  opposite  character  should  he  presume 
to  cast  reflections  upon  conditions  existing  in  his  new  home. 

To  the  wayfarer,  likewise,  the  western'  man  extended  his 
simple  but  hearty  hospitality.  Every  stranger  was  made  wel- 
come to  all  the  primitive  home  afforded.  There  was  always  a 
place  at  the  table  and  always  room  for  another  lodger,  no  mat- 
ter how  many  already  occupied  places  in  the  home.  This  hos- 
pitality was  extended  in  a  manner  peculiar  to  the  frontiersman. 
He  gave  it  in  a  simple,  unassuming  way  and  wished  no  remarks 
even  if  complimentary,  and  above  all  things  he  wished  no  cita- 
tion of  unpleasant  things  encountered  before,  or  any  mention  of 
entertainment  received  elsewhere  which  was  not  so  good.  Such 


75  Parkinson,  Pioneer  Life  in  Wisconsin,  in  the  Wis.  Hist.  Collections,  2,  332'. 

76  Holmes,  Account  of  the  United  States,  133. 

[268] 


POOLEY SETTLEMENT    OF    ILLINOIS,    1830-50  555 

remarks  were  considered  as  reflections  upon  the  people  of  the 
-country  and  from  them  it  was  inferred  that  like  remarks  would 
be  made  again  and  perhaps  in  connection  with  the  entertainment 
then  enjoyed. 

The  country  and  the  surroundings  of  the  pioneer  seemed  to 
change  him  in  a  few  years.  Even  the  quiet,  conservative  men 
from  the  East  became  rough,  independent  and  simple  in  habits, 
careless  of  dress,  frank  in  speech,  friendly  and  generous  to  all 
whom  they  could  trust.  Seldom,  if  ever,  did  the  prairie  man 
.fail  to  make  a  favorable  impression  upon  those  he  chanced  to 
meet.  When  he  had  reached  a  period  of  comparative  prosperity 
nothing  was  too  good  for  him.  He  lived  in  the  midst  of  plenty. 
His  cattle,  horses  and  acres  he  numbered  by  the  hundreds;  his 
fields  of  grain  and  corn  were  wide  in  extent  and  he  enjoyed  his  ' 
prosperity  continuously  which  seemed  only  to  improve  his  good- 
will, for  nowhere  could  be  found  men  who  would  obey  the  calls 
of  friendship  or  ans'wer  the  claims  of  benevolence  with  more 
cheerful  promptness  or  with  greater  sacrifices  to  personal  con- 
venience.77 

The  daily  life  of  the  pioneer  was  a  varied  one.  Besides  cul- 
tivating his  farm,  repairing  his  buildings  and  agricultural  im- 
plements he  found  time  to  hunt,  to  assist  his  neighbors  and 
sometimes  to  make  attempts  to  educate  himself.78  Besides  the 
•smaller  affairs  these  pioneers  provided  for  local  government, 
for  churches,  for  schools,  for  higher  education  and  for  the  rail- 
ways and  telegraph  systems. 

Naturally  enjoying  society,  primitive  as  it  might  be,  these 
early  settlers  met  often  at  races,  shooting-matches,  house-rais- 
ings, log-rollings,  weddings,  funerals,  elections  and  on  court 
days.79  Political  and  religious  questions  were  freely  and  some- 
times violently  discussed,  at  all  such  meetings  and  often  with 


"  Hall,  Sketches,  2,  70. 

78  Mr.   Conant  records  that  on  one  day   he    "read    the    Latin   Grammar" ;    on 
another  he   "made  a   coffin  i'or  Mrs.   Dougherty   and   helped   to   bury   her" ;   ou 
another  he  "planted  corn  and  prepared  for  the  wedding"  ;  on  another  he  "married 
Betsy  Kelsey"  ;  on  others  he  "  made  a  table  and  borrowed  six  buslieis  of  pota- 
toes", "read  a  sermon"  ;  "made  a  wagon"  and  on  one  day  being  unwell  he  "studied 
algebra"  and  "wrote  a  temperance  address".     Life  of  A.  H.  Conant,  43. 

79  Western  Monthly  Magazine,  1,  52.     Haines,  Social  Life  and  Scenes  in  the 
Early  Settlement  of  Central  Illinois  in  Transactions  of  the  Illinois  State  Histori- 
cal Society,   (1905.) 

[269] 


556  BULLETIN    OF    THE    UNIVERSITY    OF    WISCONSIN 

keenness  and  ability.  News  of  the  outside  world  'was  passed 
from  neighbor  to  neighbor,  for  newspapers  were  scarce  in  the 
early  days.  Books  were  few.  Horse-racing,  jumping,  wrestling, 
hunting  and  dancing  were  the  amusements  enjoyed.  Card 
playing  'was  not  tolerated  by  respectable  people  and  a  fiddle 
was,  to  the  church  people,  only  the  devil  painted  red.80 

Active  measures  were  taken  by  the  legislature  of  Illinois  to 
stop  gambling.  A  law  was  passed  in  the  early  thirties  by  which 
a  fine  of  twenty-five  dollars  was  to  be  levied  on  any  person 
bringing  into  the  state  or  selling  a  pack  of  playing  cards  or  a 
set  of  billard  balls  "or  any  other  device  or  anything  invented 
or  made  for  the  purpose  of  being  used  in  games  of  hazard. ' '  A 
like  fine  was  to  be  imposed  upon  a  purchaser  of  the  condemned 
articles,  or  anyone  indulging  in  games  of  dice,  billards  or  cards 
"for  money  or  property"  and  a  fine  of  one  hundred  dollars 
upon  "any  tavern  keeper  or  owner  of  a  grocery  or  tipling  shop" 
who  should  allow  any  form  of  gambling  in  his  place  of  busi- 
ness.81 The  pioneer  had  a  standard  of  morality  of  his  own 
and  thought  nothing  of  the  free  use  of  intoxicants.  At  every 
gathering  the  whiskey  jug  seemed  indispensable,  occasioning 
at  times  disturbances  which,  from  a  present  day  view-point, 
could  never  be  overlooked. 

""Education82  did  not  thrive  well  among  the  early  settlers  of 
southern  Illinois.  The  poverty  of  the  settlers,  the  hardships  of 
frontier  life,  the  long  Indian  wars,  the  slight  returns  which  the 
lands  yielded  for  school  purposes  were  all  so  many  hindrances. 
Save  a  few  settlers  who  came  from  New  England  in  the  early 
days,  the  mass  of  pioneers  was  composed  of  people  from  Ken- 
tucky and  Tennessee  with  others  from  Virginia  and  Pennsyl- 
vania. In  these  states  the  common  school  system  had  not  been 


80  Chicago  Inter-Ocean,  Dec.  14,  1904. 

81  Extract  from  statute.     (Sangamon  Journal,  May  7,  1836.) 

82  For  a  discussion  of  education  in  the  Northwest  and  especially  Illinois,  see : 
McMaster,  History  of    the    People  of    the    United    States,    5,  370 ;   S.  Willard, 
Brief  History  of  Early  Education  in  Illinois  in  Report  of  Sup't  of  Public  Instruc- 
tion of  Illinois    (1884)  ;   W.   L.   Pillsbury,  Early  Education  in  Illinois,  in  ioid., 
(1886)  ;  Rev.  A.  D.  Mayo,  Education  in  the  Northwest  dwring  the  first  half  Cen- 
tury of  the  Republic,  1790-1840  in  Report  of  the  Commissioner  of  Education,  1895- 
96  (House  Documents,  54  Cong.,  1  Sess.,  No.  5.)  ;  Rev.  A.  D.  Mayo,  The  Develop- 
ment of  the  Common  School  in  the  Western  States  1850-1865  in:  Report  of  toe 
Commissioner  of  Education,  1898-99,  1,  357-450. 

[270] 


POOLEY SETTLEMENT    OF    ILLINOIS,    1830-50  557 

developed  and  naturally  little  attention  was  paid  to  the  develop- 
ment of  such  a  system  in  early  Illinois. 

By  an  act  of  1825,  voters  in  any  county  might  create  districts, 
establish  schools  for  white  children  between  the  age  of  five  and 
twenty  and  maintain  them  by  a  tax  of  one-half  mill  on  each 
dollar  of  taxable  property.  The  law  was  not  compulsory  and 
unless  a  majority  of  the  voters  favored  a  school,  none  would 
exist.  The  people  vigorously  resisted  the  law  and  the  legis- 
lature in  1829  repealed  as  much  of  it  as  provided  for  state  aid 
and  declared  that  no  man  should  be  taxed  for  the  maintenance 
of  schools  unless  he  first  gave  his  consent  in  writing. 

Education  was  not  wholly  neglected,  however.  Here  and 
there  in  the  pioneer  communities,  teachers  such  as  they  were 
gathered  the  children  of  the  neighborhood  together  in  some 
kitchen  or  abandoned  log  cabin  and  gave  them  instruction  for 
scanty  pay.  By  1840  Baptists,  Methodists,  Congregationalists, 
Episcopalians,  Presbyterians  and  Catholics  all  had  seminaries 
of  higher  education  located  in  the  state. 

With  the  influx  of  New  Englanders  and  New  Yorkers  to 
northern  Illinois,  changes  for  the  better  took  place.  These 
pioneers  believed  thoroughly  in  the  value  of  schools  and  wher- 
ever two  or  three  families  settled  together,  there  it  was  certain 
a  school  was  soon  to  be  started.  The  Ladies'  Association  for 
the  Education  of  Girls;  the  Illinois  Institute  of  Education  and 
the  State  Association  of  Educators  with  other  similar  organi- 
zations fought  to  bring  about  the  system  of  common  schools 
which  was  finally  organized  in  1854.  The  effect  of  the  agita- 
tion is  seen  in  the  results  of  the  decade  1841  to  1850.  In  1850 
there  were  2,640  public  schools  in  Illinois  and  132,000  pupils  in 
attendance — the  number  of  schools  having  doubled  in  the  ten 
years  and  the  attendance  increased  four-fold. 

In  a  general  way  the  development  of  churches  was  the  same. 
While  meetings  were  held  with  regularity  among  the  pioneers 
of  southern  Illinois  it  was  not  until  the  advent  of  the  northern 
stream  of  immigrants  that  we  find  churches  erected  for  every 
community  of  any  size.  The  circuit  riders  were  to  remain  for 
years  until  the  pioneer  communities  were  wealthy  enough  to 
maintain  a  pastor  in  each  one. 

[271] 


558  BULLETIN    OF    THE    UNIVERSITY    OF    WISCONSIN 

It  appears  that  previous  to  1850  the  agricultural  pioneer  had 
only  made  beginnings.  His  knowledge  of  the  prairies  was  lim- 
ited; he  could  see  the  problems  confronting  him  and  did  his 
best  to  cope  with  them  using  such  means  as  he  had.  The  prob- 
lems of  transportation  and  markets  were  the  serious  obstacles 
to  be  overcome.  Rivers  formed  one  solution  to  these  problems 
but  where  they  failed  it  was  necessary  to  construct  roads.  An 
examination  of  the  location  of  the  most  important  roads  of  the 
decade  1841-1850  shows  well  the  needs  of  the  farmer.  From 
eastern,  central,  western  and  northern  Illinois,  roads  centered 
at  Chicago.  Here  was  the  supply  depot  of  the  prairies;  here 
was  the  great  shipping  point,  for  lake  transportation  was  cheaper 
than  that  on  the  rivers.  Chicago  was  the  connecting  link 
between  the  land  and  the  lake  transportation  as  is  shown  in 
later  days  when  so  many  of  the  great  railway  systems  which  tap 
the  agricultural  districts  of  the  West  center  at  Chicago. 

The  great  unoccupied  stretches  of  land  between  the  timbered 
tracts  Were  to  be  left  for  the  settlers  of  the  next  decade  to  claim. 
When  an  increased  use  of  improved  farm  machinery  allowed  the 
.settlers  to  handle  larger  tracts  of  land  with  success  and  when 
the  railroads  penetrated  the  prairies  and  placed  markets  within 
the  reach  of  the  farmers,  then  the  almost  insurmountable  ob- 
stacles presented  by  the  great  tracts  of  treeless  land  were  over- 
-come. 


[272] 


POOLEY SETTLEMENT    OF    ILLINOIS,    1830-50  559 


CHAPTER  XV 
CONCLUSION — A  Resume 


The  population  map  of  1830  shows  that  in  no  part  of  Illinois 
were  there  more  than  eighteen  inhabitants  to  the  square  mile 
and  that  about  two-thirds  of  the  state  was  either  entirely  unoc- 
cupied or  had  less  than  seven  inhabitants  to  the  square  mile. 
The  most  thickly  settled  parts  of  the  state  were  along  the  Wa- 
bash,  Ohio  and  Mississippi  rivers.  .  In  the  interior  considerable 
settlement  had  been  made  along  the  Illinois  and  Sangamon 
rivers.1 

By  1840  it  appears  that  further  encroachment  had  been  made 
upon  the  great  prairies,  for  all  of  the  state,  with  the  exception 
of  a  small  part  on  the  eastern  side  was  credited  with  at  least 
two  inhabitants  to  the  square  mile.  At  this  date  the  Military 
Tract  is  shown  as  settled  and  the  outskirts  of  settlement  along 
the  Illinois  river  extended  to  Chicago  instead  of  Peoria  as  desig- 
nated a  decade  before.  Population  was  densest  on  the  west- 
ern side  of  the  state  in  a  belt  extending  from  Quincy  to  Jack- 
sonville and  thence  south  into  Madison  and  St.  Clair  counties. 
The  least  number  of  settlers  was  on  the  northern  and  eastern 
prairies.2 

In  1850  those  parts  of  the  state  bordering  the  "Wabash,  Ohio 
and  Mississippi  rivers  were  all  credited  with  not  less  than 
eighteen  inhabitants  to  the  square  mile.  The  strip  of  territory 
along  the  Illinois  river  was  equally  well  settled  as  were  those 
counties  in  the  extreme  north. 

The  prairies  of  eastern  Illinois  and  of  the  Military  Tract  are 


Twelfth  Census,  (1900),  Statistical  Atlas,  plate  6. 
Ibid.,  plate  1. 

18  [273] 


560  BULLETIN    OF    THE    UNIVERSITY    OF    WISCONSIN 


"I   Six  or  more  per  square  mile  in  1840. 

I  j   Six  or  more  per  square  mile :  added  during  decade  1841-50. 

|  |  Less  than  six  per  square  mile  in  1850. 

DlSTBIBUTION   OF   POPULATION  BY   COtJjSTTIES 

[274] 


POOLEY SETTLEMENT    OF    ILLINOIS,    1830-50  561 


x    jn    )— 7 

\^J-^  y-^     /       x^  V 


Eighteen  or  more  per  square  mile. 


DISTRIBUTION  OF  POPULATION  BY  COUNTIES  (1850) 

[275] 


562  BULLETIN    OF    THE    UNIVERSITY    OF    WISCONSIN 

clearly  marked  by  the  sparseness  of  settlement.  No  part  of  the 
state  had  more  than  forty-five  settlers  to  the  square  mile.3 

These  maps  give  a  general  idea  of  the  location  of  population, 
but  in  detail  they  are  not  accurate.  Settlements  in  1830  were 
entirely  within  the  timbered  tracts;  by  1840  the  frontier  had 
moved  farther  to  the  north,  but  still  the  settlers  clung  to  the 
timber.  Not  until  after  1850  was  the  settlement  of  the  open 
prairies  to  be  really  accomplished. 

During  the  years  1831  and  1832  the  beginnings  of  settlement 
were  made  in  northern  and  eastern  Illinois.  At  the  first  alarm 
of  the  Black  Hawk  War  the  settlers,  save  in  a  few  instances 
where  communities  seemed  strong  enough  to  maintain  themselves 
against  an  Indian  attack,  fled  back  to  the  more  thickly  populated 
portions  of  the  state  and  for  the  time  the  spread  of  settlement 
ceased  along  the  northern  Illinois  frontier.  These  settlements 
had  been  planted  by  pioneers  of  the  hunter  type  and  when  the 
flight  southward  came  it  appears  that  the  hunter-pioneers  lost 
their  opportunity  for  settling  the  woodlands  along  the  rivers 
of  northern  Illinois. 

Several  causes  operated  to  make  this  retreat  before  the  In- 
dians a  permanent  one.  The  trip  through  the  northern  portion 
of  the  state" in  pursuit  of  the  fleeing  Indian  chief  disclosed  for 
the  first  time  its  wonderful  resources  as  an  agricultural  district. 
Here  we  see  the  greatest  effect  of  the  war  of  1832  and  one  over- 
powering the  temporary  compression  of  settlement  during  that 
year. 

From  1833  until  1837  or  1838  Illinois  had  a  wonderful  growth. 
The  last  of  the  Indian  land  titles  within  the  limits  of  the  state 
were  extinguished,  and  the  Indians  themselves  were  either  in- 
duced or  compelled  to  vacate  their  claims  in  Illinois  and  to  cross 
the  Mississippi,  thus  removing  the  last  cause  for  Indian  scares 
and  reassuring  the  immigrants  from  the  East  that  their  families 
and  homes  would  be  safe  on  the  Illinois  frontier.  Land  sales 
were  constantly  taking  place  at  the  various  offices  of  the  state 
and  the  immense  internal  improvement  system  already  planned 
and  soon  to  be  begun,  lead  the  people  not  only  of  Illinois  but 


3  JbM.,  plate  8. 

[276] 


POOLEY SETTLEMENT    OF    ILLINOIS,    1830-50  563 

of  the  eastern  states,  to  believe  that  here  were  to  be  presented 
numerous  opportunities  for  rapid  acquisition  of  wealth. 

So  far  in  the  history  of  the  westward  movement  the  difficul- 
ties of  travel  had  been  many  and  severe.  The  trips  made  across 
the  western  country  in  wagons  were  tiresome  indeed  and  the 
easier  journeys  down  the  Ohio  had  been  attended  with  difficul- 
ties and  dangers  not  to  be  overlooked,  while  a  journey  to  the 
West  by  'way  of  the  Great  Lakes  was  not  to  be  thought  of, 
since  a  vessel  in  the  upper  lakes  was  as  yet  a  curiosity.  The 
year  1834  saw  the  solution  of  this  problem  of  transportation,  at 
least  to  a  great  degree,  for  the  advent  of  the  steamer  upon  the 
lakes  gave  to  the  immigrant  the  means  of  comparatively  safe 
and  easy  passage  to  the  West  and  moreover,  allowed  him  to 
carry  more  household  goods,  farming  implements  and  domestic 
animals  with  which  to  begin  life  in  the  new  country. 

There  has  always  been  among  Americans  a  disposition  to 
immigrate  to  the  West  in  order  to  benefit  themselves  in  the  at- 
tempt to  acquire  wealth.  During  the  thirties  this  desire  was 
greatly,  increased  in  the  East.  The  national  debt  had  been  paid 
and  had  been  divided  among  the  various  states;  trade  had 
reached  a  high  development  and  there  was  a  feeling  among  the 
people  that  money  was  abundant,  that  every  one  was  well-to-do 
and  that  investments,  in  land  especially,  could  not  help  but 
result  in  the  rapid  accumulation  of  wealth.  The  farmers  of 
New  England,  especially  the  generation  of  young  men  who  could 
see  no  future  for  themselves  in  their  native  states,  began  to  look 
to  the  great  West  for  a  livelihood.  The  development  of  the 
wool  industry  tended  also  to  consolidate  the  small  farms  into 
large  ones,  and  those  farmers  seeing  an  opportunity  to  dispose 
of  their  small  holdings  at  good  prices  did  so  with  the  intention 
of  moving  to  a  new  country.  In  the  middle  states  frequent  re- 
ports came,  telling  of  the  wonderful  opportunities  in  the  west- 
ern country.  Pamphlets  advertising  Illinois  lands  flooded  the 
states  from  Ohio  to  the  sea-board.  Since  the  subdivision  of 
farms  had,  in  the  Middle  Atlantic  states,  reached  such  a  degree 
that  the  small  patches  of  ground  would  no  longer  comfortably 
support  families,  and  since  renters  began  to  see  that  in  the 
space  of  a  few  years  they  could  own  farms  in  the  West  by  the 

[277] 


564  BULLETIN    OF    THE    UNIVERSITY    OF    WISCONSIN 

investment  of  no  more  capital  than  they  paid  from  year  to  year 
for  rent,  many  were  more  than  willing  to  try  the  experiment  of 
western  life. 

All  things  seemed  favorable  for  a  period  of  speculative  mania ; 
money  seemed  plentiful,  western  lands  offered  excellent  oppor- 
tunities for  the  rapid  accumulation  of  wealth,  a  generation  of 
young  men  was  ready  to  begin  life  for  itself  and  lastly,  the 
problem  of  transportation  had,  to  a  great  extent,  been  solved. 
The  result  was  a  natural  one;  the  period  of  speculation  mater- 
ialized and  there  came  to  the  western  country  an  unequalled 
flood  of  immigration. 

Gradually  the  stream  increased  in  size  and  by  1835  the  specu- 
lation in  Illinois  lands  was  fairly  under  way.  The  stages, 
steamboats,  hotels,  taverns  and  places  of  general  resort  were 
thronged  with  land  sellers  and  land  buyers  and  in  advance  of 
the  thickest  of  the  throng  like  an  army  of  locusts  seeking  to 
devour  the  broad  acres  of  the  National  domain,4  was  the  crowd 
of  land  speculators.  Five  million  dollars  worth  of  lands 
was  entered  during  1836.5  Even  business  men  of  sober, 
careful  judgment,  farmers  and  mechanics  formerly  wary 
and  conservative,  added  their  stimulus  to  the  ever-increas- 
ing scramble  for  land  and  invested  to  the  utmost  limit  which 
their  credit  would  allow.  Individuals  who  had  reached 
their  limit  of  credit,  joined  themselves  together  into  companies 
and  with  the  aid  of  the  banks  continued  their  financial  gym- 
nastics. 

It  is  estimated  that  during  the  years  1835,  1836  and  1837 
more  than  five  hundred  new  towns  were  laid  out  in  Illinois,6 
each  company  believing  that  its  town  was,  in  the  near  future, 
to  become  a  metropolis,  the  center  of  a  thriving,  populous, 
wealthy  community.  During  the  year  1836  hi  Will  county 
alone,  nine  towns7  were  laid  out.  and  Will  county  was  no  ex- 
ception to  the  general  rule  prevailing  in  the  state.  The  lots  in 
these  "paper  towns"  were  advertised  in  eastern  cities  and  many 


« Salisbury,  The  Speculative  Craze  of  ''S6,  in    Buffalo   Hist.    Soc.    Publications, 
(1906),  4,  324. 

*  Davidson  and  Stuv6,  Illinois,  434. 

•  History  of  McLean  County,  487. 

7  Woodruff,  Joliet  and  Will  County,  33. 

[278] 


POOLEY SETTLEMENT    OF    ILLINOIS,    1830-50  565 

which  today  are  sites  of  some  fanner's  field  brought  fancy 
prices. 

It  is  not  to  be  understood  that,  during  all  this  period  of 
wild  speculation,  Illinois  received  no  benefit  or  did  not  increase 
in  permanent  population,  or  that  no  towns  of  this  period  were 
to  become  permanent  ones.  Some  companies  organized  by  New 
Englanders  and  New  Yorkers  were  sound  enough  financially  to 
withstand  the  shock  of  1837  and  to  establish  in  Illinois,  towns 
which  were  destined  to  weather  the  financial  storm  which  swept 
over  the  state  during  the  years  immediately  following.  In  Mc- 
Lean county  the  Hudson8  and  Mt.  Hope9  colonies;  in  Tazewell 
county  the  Tremont10  and  Delavan11  colonies;  in  Henry  county 
the  Andover,12  Wethersfield13  and  Geneseo14  colonies;  in  Bureau 
county  the  Providence15  colony  and  in  Knox  county  the  Gales- 
burg16  colony  are  all  examples  of  the  successful  town  building 
ventures  of  the  time. 

These  colonies  seem  to  have  been  carefully  planned  and  well 
financed.  The  land  upon  which  they  were  located  was,  as  a 
general  rule,  purchased  before  any  move  Was  made  from  the 
East  by  the  settlers.  It  is  true  that  the  success  attendant  upon 
these  various  enterprises  was  at  first  not  marked  but  they  were 
able  to  maintain  a  footing  during  adverse  circumstances  and  to 
take  advantage  of  the  more  favorable  conditions  which  followed 
during  the  later  forties. 

The  lack  of  success  experienced  by  the  Rockwell  colony17  in 
La  Salle  must  be  attributed  rather  to  the  drawback  of  an  un- 
healthful  location  than  to  financial  distress.  The  Morristown 
colony18  established  in  1836  cannot  be  classified  as  a  successful 
colony  because  of  the  few  settlers  who  came.  An  unwise  pro- 


8  History  of  McLean  County,  603. 
Ibid.,  597. 

0  Chicago  Weekly  American,  Feb.  20,  1836. 

1  The  New  Yorker,  Aug.  31,   1839. 

2  History  of  Henry  County,  524. 
*IMd.,  137. 

4  Thirtieth  Anniversary  of  the  Settlement  of  Geneseo,  5. 

5  Matson,  Reminiscences  of  Bureau  County,  331. 

8  Stories  of  the  Pioneer  Mothers  of  Illinois,   (Letter  of  Mary  Allen  West,  Ms. 
in  Illinois  Hist.  Library). 

T 'Baldwin,  History  of  La  Salle  County,  375. 
*  History  of  Heni-y  County,  135. 


[279] 


566  BULLETIN    OF    THE    UNIVERSITY    OF    WISCONSIN 

vision  concerning  the  holding  of  land  and  the  forfeiture  of  it 
in  case  of  default  upon  the  part  of  the  settlers  to  make  improve- 
ments within  a  limited  time,  operated  to  the  detriment  of  set- 
tlement. The  provision  placed  a  premium  on  the  non-accept- 
ance of  land,  for  by  so  doing  the  defaulter  was  able  to  double 
the  money  he  had  invested. 

Illinois,  however,  does  not  owe  her  wonderful  growth  in  pop- 
ulation during  this  period,  to  the  establishment  of  colonies. 
The  substantial  growth  took  place  through  the  efforts  of  individ- 
uals to  establish  homes  for  themselves  and  to  acquire  prop- 
erty in  the  new  country.  Along  the  border  of  the  Great  Prairie 
in  Eastern  Illinois  the  numerous  pioneers  from  Ohio  and  Ken- 
tucky settled.  Fearing  as  yet  to  venture  out  into  the  open, 
they  took  up  the  lands  near  the  sheltering  timber  and  thus 
formed  a  net-work  of  settlement  far  out  into  the  prairie  without 
encountering  any  of  its  real  difficulties.  Along  the  great  river 
system  of  the  Illinois,  the  Kentucky  and  Tennessee  hunter,  fol- 
lowing the  experience  of  generations  of  pioneers  accustomed  to 
combat  the  difficulties  of  the  forest  rather  than  the  prairie, 
pushed  their  way  northward  to  meet  the  stream  of  Ne'w  Eng- 
landers  and  New  Yorkers  following  the  line  of  the  proposed 
canal.  Across  in  the  Military  Tract  the  same  operation  was 
going  on  along  the  Mississippi  river  and  its  numerous  branches. 
The  lead  region,  of  course,  owes  its  development  to  other  than 
agricultural  causes  or  desires  to  subdue  a  new  country.  The 
Bock  river  valley  was  rapidly  filling  up,  especially  in  the  upper 
portion  where  water  and  good  timber  tracts  were  freely  inter- 
spersed with  the  prairie  lands.  Here  the  southwestern  and 
southern  pioneer  was  seldom  seen  and  New  Englanders,  New 
Yorkers  and  Pennsylvanians  formed  the  greater  part  of  the 
population. 

Lack  of  money  among  the  new  settlers,  trouble  over  land 
claims  and  the  difficulty  of  getting  lumber  and  supplies  from 
the  lines  of  water  transportation,  coupled  with  a  lack  of  markets 
for  farm  produce  Were  the  only  drawbacks  to  the  development 
of  the  state  at  this  time.  Serious  as  these  may  seem,  the  de- 
velopment of  Illinois  during  this  period  of  "boom"  was  a  rapid 
one  and  the  ground  work  of  settlement  laid  in  the  northern 

[280] 


POOLEY SETTLEMENT    OF    ILLINOIS,    1830-50  567 

part  of  the  state  during  these  years  of  prosperity  was  strong 
enough  to  tide  the  young  communities  over  the  trying  year's 
to  follow  when  it  looked  as  if  the  state  was  surely  to  encounter 
financial  shipwreck. 

In  this  period  just  described  (1833  to  1837)  the  character  of 
the  settlement  of  northern  Illinois  was  fixed  once  for  all — the 
prairie  man  who  was  primarily  a  pioneer  of  the  agricultural 
class,  or  the  third  type  in  the  succession  as  followed  heretofore, 
had  now  jumped  into  first  place  to  the  exclusion  of  the  hunter 
and  the  small  farmer.  Events  had  operated  for  this  and  the 
result  was  inevitable.  While  the  pioneers  who  had  occupied  the 
Illinois  river  woodlands  were  still  safely  residing  in  the  south- 
ern settlements  waiting  for  the  last  echoes  of  the  Black  Hawk 
War  to  die  away  on  the  frontier,  events  were  shaping  themselves 
for  a  new  immigration  of  a  different  type.  Eestlessness  had 
ever  been  a  failing  of  Americans  and  it  was  increased  after  18301 
by  a  combination  of  influences.  In  the  previously  enumerated 
causes19  may  be  found  the  reasons  for  the  new  flow  of  immi- 
gration to  Illinois,  and  in  the  application  of  steam  to  lake  traffic 
may  be  found  the  influence  directing  this  stream  of  immigra- 
tion, which  gave  eastern  rather  than  southern  characteristics  to- 
northern  Illinois.  Illinois  land  was  as  fertile  as  any  in  the 
West  and  land  was  what  the  immigrant  wanted;  Chicago  was 
the  terminus  of  the  lake  route,  a  natural  gateway  to  the  prairies 
and  as  a  consequence  when  the  great  rage  for  speculation  broke 
out  in  the  thirties  and  a  wild  rush  was  made  to  the  West,  Illi- 
nois received  a  liberal  share  of  the  new  settlers. 

The  hunter-pioneers  who  were  again  returning  to  the  wood- 
lands of  the  upper  Illinois  were  few  in  numbers;  the  agricul- 
tural pioneers  from  New  England  and  Ne'w  York  were  poured 
into  Illinois  in  swarms  by  the  ever-increasing  number  of  lake 
steamers.  As  the  mania  for  speculation  increased,  the  army  of 
immigrants  increased  also,  until  all  the  available  timber  of 
this  portion  of  the  state  was  taken  up.  The  hunter  was  primar- 
ily a  frontiersman ;  the  new  immigrant  was  primarily  a  farmer. 
The  former  wished  to  keep  the  new  country  as  a  hunting  ground,, 
a  sort  of  frontier;  the  latter  wished  at  the  earliest  possible  per- 

"  en.,  n. 

[281] 


568  BULLETIN    OF    THE    UNIVERSITY    OF    WISCONSIN 

iod  of  time  to  convert  the  new  country  into  an  agricultural 
one.  The  hunter's  woodlands  were  taken  up;  he  knew  nothing 
of  the  prairie  and  in  all  probability  did  not  care  to  cultivate 
it.  There  was  nothing  left  for  him  then  but  to  move  farther 
to  the  West  in  quest  of  the  frontier.  In  this  contest  for  the 
northern  part  of  Illinois,  volume  and  rapidity  of  transportation 
had  been  on  the  side  of  the  agricultural  man  and  numbers  and 
steam  had  won,  over  inferior  numbers  and  slower  communi- 
cation. The  result  was  inevitable  as  soon  as  the  transportation 
problem  had  been  solved,  and  to  this  element,  primarily,  it 
seems,  must  the  northern  complexion  of  this  part  of  Illinois 
population  be  attributed. 

The  period  of  depression  extends  over  the  years  from  1837 
to  1843.  Beginning  in  the  eastern  states  the  panic  and  its  with- 
ering results  swept  quickly  over  the  entire  country.  Specula- 
tion in  western  lands,  in  railways,  in  canals,  in  corner  lots  and 
river  fronts  tied  up  much  money  which  was  needed  to  conduct 
the  business  of  the  country.  Overtrading,  by  means  of  which  the 
country  was  drained  of  its  specie;20  the  rapid  multiplication  of 
'wild-cat'  banks21  and  subsequent  suspension  of  specie  pay- 
ments, together  with  Jackson's  specie  circular,  precipitated  the 
panic  of  1837.22 

Distress  prevailed  in  the  East,  especially  among  the  laborers 
and  mechanics  and  in  the  rural  districts  the  farmers  soon  began 
to  feel  the  effects  of  the  situation.  Those  who  could  get  away 
from  the  cities  did  so  and  facing  the  West,  looked  to  it  to  sup- 
ply homes  and  a  new  start  in  life.  Farmers  were,  however,  not 
able  to  sell  their  lands,  for  there  were  none  who  could  buy. 
Consequently  it  appears  that  the  majority  of  the  immigrants 
to  the  West  at  this  particular  period,  could  not  have  belonged 
to  the  agricultural  class  in  their  native  states.  It  was  expected 
that  a  great  influx  of  settlers  would  follow  on  the  heels  of  this 
panic  and  it  was  so  stated  by  some  of  the  western  papers.2* 
Observations  made  in  the  East  show  similar  expectations,  and 
they,  for  a  time  at  least,  proved  correct.  A  Boston  paper  of 


20  Banker's  Magazine,  12,  390. 

21  Walker,  Money,  319. 

22  Wilson,  Division  and  Reunion,  94. 

23  Chicago  Weekly  American,  May  13,  1837. 

[282] 


POOLEY SETTLEMENT    OF    ILLINOIS,    1830-50  569 

April  14, 1837,  says  ' '  The  emigration  to  the  great  west  is  rapidly 
increasing  from  different  parts  of  the  country.  The  present 
stagnation  in  business — and  the  disastrous  effects  upon  our 
mechanics  and  laborers — will  tend  to  send  many  of  them  from 
our  large  towns  and  cities,  where  their  services  have  been  in 
constant  demand  for  some  years."24 

The  course  of  events  in  Illinois  operated  against  the  rapid 
settlement  of  the  state  during  this  period.  Had  not  its  own 
finances  come  into  such  a  deplorable  condition,  Illinois  could 
have  profited  by  the  movement  to  the  West.  Local  conditions 
coupled  with  the  general  unsettled  situation  of  the  country 
served  to  intensify  the  depression  in  the  state  and  the  six  years 
following  1837  were  perhaps  the  darkest  ones  in  its  history. 

Thousands  of  acres  of  land  had  been  purchased  by  the  set- 
tlers and  payments  were  regularly  falling  due.  The  effect  of 
the  Specie  Circular  was  to  draw  off  coin.  Money  became  very 
scarce  and  the  farmers,  in  order  to  obtain  specie  with  which  to 
make  payments  on  their  lands,  were  compelled  to  pay  rates  of 
interest  which  were  excessively  high.  Twenty-five  per  cent, 
was  exacted  on  five  year  loans  and  sometimes  as  high  as  seventy- 
five  per  cent,  paid  for  one  year  loans.25  To  make  matters  worse 
counterfeit  bank  notes  and  much  bogus  coin  got  into  circula- 
tion.26 The  agricultural  class  suffered  severely,  too,  on  ac- 
count of  lack  of  markets.  Few  or  no  cash  sales  could  be  made 
for  farm  produce  and  when  such  sales  could  be  effected,  prices 
were  exceedingly  low.  Barter  was  the  means  of  carrying  on 
trade  and  notes  were  sometimes  drawn,  payable  in  a  cow  or  a 
horse  or  other  farm  products.27 

The  state  by  1842,  was  in  debt  $14,000,000  for  money  wasted 
on  internal  improvements;28  the  domestic  treasury  was  in  ar- 
rears over  $300,000  for  ordinary  governmental  expenses;  the 
state  banks  were  beginning  to  grow  shaky  and  then  to  collapse. 
After  July,  1841,  no  attempt  was  made  to  pay  even  the  interest 


24  Chicago  Weekly  American,  May  6,  1837  (Boston  Mercantile  Journal,  April  14, 
1837). 

25  The  New  Yorker,  Jan.  12,  1839. 
28  The  New  Yorker,  June  5,  1841. 

27  Clarke.  History  of  McDonough  County,  60. 

28  Blanchard,  The  Northwest  and  Chicago,  1,  663. 


[283] 


570  BULLETIN    OF    THE    UNIVERSITY    OF    WISCONSIN 

on  the  public  debt;  taxation  was  high  and  the  people  were  un- 
able to  pay  even  moderate  rates.  Illinois  was  in  ill  repute. 
There  was  no  trade;  real  estate  was  almost  unsalable;  business- 
was  stagnated;  everybody  wanted  to  sell  his  property  and  move 
away  but  there  were  only  a  few  either  abroad  or  within  the 
state  who  cared  to  buy.  As  it  is  summed  up  by  Mr  Blanch- 
ard,  the  increase  or  decrease  of  Illinois'  population  for  the  per- 
iod was  small  for  "the  impossibility  of  selling  (property)  kept 
us  from  losing  population  and  the  fear  of  disgrace  and  high 
taxes  prevented  us  from  growing  materially."29 

Almost  endless  disputes  over  land  claims  arose  during  this 
period  to  increase  the  turmoil  in  the  state.  Squatters  had  set- 
tled upon  government  lands  and  made  improvements  and  upon 
the  sale  of  these  lands  at  the  land  offices,  disputes  over  posses- 
sion arose,  for  often  those  who  had  purchased  a  title  to  certain 
lands  found,  upon  their  arrival  upon  their  purchases,  that  they 
were  already  occupied  and  portions  placed  under  cultivation 
by  settlers  Who  seemed  not  at  all  disposed  to  yield  their  rights. 
to  the  disputed  tracts. 

Affairs  began  to  assume  a  better  aspect  towards  the  end  of 
1842  and  the  people  began  to  take  courage  and  commenced  to 
work  their  way  out  of  the  depression.  Governor  Ford,  then  the 
chief  executive  of  the  state,  opposed  with  might  and  main  the 
movement  towards  repudiation  of  the  state's  debt.  Neither 
did  he  wish  immediate  payment  of  this  debt,  if  it  Was  to  in- 
crease the'  burden  of  taxation.  The  sentiment  of  the  legis- 
lature of  1842  and  1843  was  also  against  any  great  increase 
of  taxes,  but  finally  a  direct  tax  of  one  and  one-half  mills  wa& 
levied  for  the  purpose  of  paying  the  interest  on  the  debt.30  The 
most  noteworthy  move  of  this  legislature  was  the  passage  of  a 
set  of  resolutions  in  which  it  was  stated  that  as  representatives, 
of  the  state  of  Illinois  the  members  of  the  legislature  recog- 
nized the  legal  and  moral  obligation  of  discharging  every  debt 
contracted  by  authorized  agents  of  the  state.  Furthermore, 
the  resolution  contained  a  direct  disavowal  of  repudiation,  and 
as  direct  a  statement  that  the  revenues  and  resources  of  the- 


*>J6id.,  1,  659. 
»/bid.,  1,  662. 


POOLEY SETTLEMENT    OF    ILLINOIS,    1830-50  57l 

.state  'would  be  appropriated  to  pay  its  debts  as  soon  as  such 
appropriations  could  be  made  without  impoverishing  and  op- 
pressing the  people.31 

The  wise  financial  administration  of  Governor  Ford  and  the 
expression  by  the  legislature  against  repudiation  did  much  to- 
wards renewing  confidence  in  the  state  of  Illinois,  and,  attracted 
by  the  brilliant  opportunities  presented,  immigrants  again  be- 
gan to  come  in.  The  seasons  of  1843  and  1844  were  seasons  of 
poor  crops  which  operated  against  the  state's  prosperity  and 
tended  to  delay  the  revival  for  a  short  time. 

By  1846  there  were  $9,000  in  the  state's  treasury  instead  of 
a  deficit;  the  auditor's  warrants  sold  at  par,  or  nearly  so  in- 
stead of  at  a  fifty  per  cent,  reduction  as  in  1842;  silver  and 
gold  coins  were  replacing  the  bank  notes  of  a  few  years  before 
and  $3,000,000  of  the  state  debt  had  been  paid  and  the  pay- 
ment of  $5,000,000  more  provided  for  immediately  upon  the  com- 
pletion of  the  Illinois-Michigan  canal.32  It  appeared  that  Ill- 
inois had  at  last  started  upon  the  road  to  a  sound  financial  sys- 
tem and  the  increase  of  population  by  immigration  during  the 
succeeding  years  shows  to  what  extent  this  feeling  of  confidence 
in  the  future  of  the  state,  was  shared  by  such  people  of  the 
eastern  states  as  were  seeking  homes  in  the  West. 

The  recovery  was,  however,  not  an  immediate  one  in  all  dis- 
tricts. In  the  western  portion  of  the  state,  in  Mercer  and  Hen- 
derson counties,  as  late  as  1848,  it  was  'with  great  difficulty  that 
the  farmers  were  able  to  procure  enough  money  to  pay  for  their 
lands.33  In  Ogle  county,  too,  money  was  scarce  for  several  years. 
Gradually  the  stream  of  new  settlers  increased,  the  timber  lands 
were  all  taken  up  and  the  more  venturesome  settlers  pushed 
short  distances  out  into  the  prairies. 

During  the  closing  years  of  the  decade,  however,  when  Doug- 
Tass'  Bill  asking  for  a  grant  of  land  for  the  Illinois1  Central 
railroad,  was  being  discussed  in  Congress,  attention  'was  at- 
tracted to  the  prairie  region  of  the  state  and  upon  the  passage 
of  the  bill  when  the  railroad  became  an  assured  fact,  settlers 


31  mies''  Register,  63,  325. 

3-  Blanchard,  Northwest  and  Chicago,  1,  664. 

33  History  of  Mercer  and  Henderson  Counties,  625. 

[285] 


572  BULLETIN    OF    THE    UNIVERSITY    OF   WISCONSIN 

began  to  take  up  the  prairie  land  which  had  for  more  than 
twenty  years  been  open  for  occupation,  but  had  not  been  bought. 
The  construction  of  the  road  effectually  opened  up  the  country, 
giving  the  pioneers  something  to  connect  them  with  the  rest 
of  the  world. 

In  the  northern  portion  of  the  state  conditions  were  some- 
what similar.  Lack  of  communication  and  of  ready  markets 
retarded  settlement.  Chicago  and  Galena  in  opposite  corners 
of  the  state  were  the  only  markets  of  considerable  importance 
and  carting  supplies  to  and  from  these  points  was  slow  work. 
The  northern  railroad  line  was  begun  late  in  the  forties  and  with 
it  came  an  increase  of  population,  but  in  1850  there  was  still 
a  great  amount  of  unsettled  country.34  Some  emigration  took 
place  from  various  quarters  of  the  state  in  1849  and  1850, 
owing  to  the  discovery  of  gold  in  California,35  but  it  was  hardly 
enough  to  be  of  much  consequence. 

Lines  of  transportation  and  communication  influenced  the 
character  of  the  settlement  of  the  various  districts  of  the  state. 
On  the  outskirts  of  the  Great  Prairie  of  eastern  Illinois,  in 
the  timbered  portions,  were  found  the  pioneers  of  the  south- 
western states,  who  had  come  by  the  southern  wagon  roads  to 
this  district.  Later  the  men  from  Ohio  and  Indiana  filled  up 
the  remaining  spaces.  They,  too,  to  a  great  extent,  came  by 
various  wagon  roads  and  finding  good  land  in  this  region  were 
content  to  settle  upon  it.  In  the  middle  Illinois  river  counties 
the  same  thing  is  noticeable  as  in  the  southern  portion  of  the 
Military  Tract.  Contact  with  the  central  Illinois  counties, 
which  were  populated  to  a  great  extent  by  Kentuckians,  in- 
fluenced the  population  of  these  districts.  Going  farther  to  the 
north  we  find  in  the  upper  Illinois  river  counties  and  the  val- 
leys of  the  Fox  and  Rock  rivers,  the  New  Yorkers  and  New 
Englanders.  They  had  come  by  the  easiest  road,  over  the  Great 
Lakes,  and  had  settled  in  the  northern  counties  before  the  south- 
ern stream  had  reached  the  northern  timber  tracts.  Across  the 


31  Lothrop,  Directory  of  Champaign  County,  122 ;  Beckwith,  History  of  Iro- 
quois  County,  337 ;  Beckwith,  History  of  Vermilion  County,  801. 

88  History  of  McLean  County,  232 ;  Boies,  History  of  DeKalb  County,  404  ;  His- 
tory of  Sangamon  County,  536. 

[286] 


POOLEY SETTLEMENT    OF    ILLINOIS,    1830~50 


573 


state  in  the  lead  region  a  community  with  southern  sympathies 
was  planted.  The  Mississippi  river  was  the  highway  of  com- 
merce and  travel  for  this  part  of  the  state  and  the  southern 
cities  were  the  outlets  of  its  commerce.  As  a  consequence 
southern  influences  were  brought  to  bear  directly  on  the  inhab- 
itants of  the  district.  Many  of  the  settlers  were  southerners  by 
birth  and  this  fact  combined  with  the  close  connection  with 
the  South  by  way  of  the  river  tended  to  give  the  entire  region 
a  marked  southern  tone. 

The  importance  of  communication  is  shown  by  the  fact  that 
the  chief  cities,  Quincy,  Peoria,  Rushville,  Peru,  Ottawa,  Joliet, 
Elgin,  St.  Charles,  Rockford  and  Galena36  were  on  or  near  the 
rivers.  Chicago  and  Waukegan  were  on  Lake  Michigan. 
Many  of  the  small  inland  villages,  through  the  influence  of  the 
railroads,  grew  to  be  of  importance  after  1850. 

The  census  states  that  736,931  native  born  Americans  re- 
sided in  Illinois  in  1850.  Of  these  343,618  were  natives  of  the 
state  itself  and  393,313  had  come  from  other  localities.  Over 
36.^00  were  New__En glanders;  112,000  were  from  the  Middle 
States;  nearly  52,600  were  from  the  South  Atlantic  States; 
2,400  from  Kentucky  and  Tennessee;  98,400  from  the  states  of 
the  Northwest  Territory,  and  9,469  were  from  across  the  Miss- 
issippi. New  York  sent  67,180  immigrants ;  Ohio  64,219 ;  Ken- 
tucky, 49,588 ;  Pennsylvania,  37,979 ;  Tennessee,  32,303 ;  Indiana, 
30,953  and  Virginia,  24,697.  The  other  states  each  sent  less 
than  20,000.  Not  one  New  England  state  is  found  in  the  above 
list,  the  greatest  number  coming  from  any  of  those  states  came 
from  Vermont,  which  sent  11,381.  The  representation  from 
California  was  the  least  of  all — three.37 

In  closing  the  discussion  it  may  be  stated  that  the  great  per- 
vading power  which  influenced  the  settlement  of  northern  Ill- 
inois and  built  up  this  portion  of  the  state  with  astonishing" 
rapidity  and  which  gave  the  northern  character  to  its  popula- 
tion was  the  development  of  steam  navigation  upon  the  lakes. 
It  is  true  that  the  spirit  of  immigration  pervaded  the  entire 
nation  and  that  this  factor  augmented  by  general  influences 


86  Each  town  had  2,000  or  more  Inhabitants. 
« Seventh  Census,  (1850),  xxxvl. 

[287] 


574  BULLETIN    OF    THE    UNTVEKSITY    OF    WISCONSIN 

.sweeping  over  the  East  and  by  local  conditions  in  its  various 
regions  served  as  levers  to  start  the  movement  westward  with 
tremendous  force;  but  it  remained  for  the  transportation  lines 
of  the  Great  Lakes  to  shape  the  course  of  the  movement  and  to 
turn  the  stream  into  Illinois  through  its  gateway  at  Chicago.  In 
.this  respect  the  settlement  of  northern  Illinois  is  typical  of  the 
development  of  the  North  Middle  States  in  that  the  influence 
of  the  lines  of  transportation  tended  to  reproduce  in  the  New 
West  hundreds  of  communities  in  sympathy  with  their  parent 
states  across  the  Alleghanies.  The  strong  bonds  of  lines  of 
transportation  connecting  the  East  and  the  West,  tended  to 
wipe  out  sectional  feelings  between  these  parts  of  the  nation  and 
the  lack  of  lines  connecting  the  North  and  South  serves  to  in- 
.crease  this  feeling  between  the  North  and  the  South.  Sectional- 
ism in  the  United  States,  with  the  increase  of  these  transporta- 
tion lines  now  changed  rapidly  from  longitudinal  to  latitudinal. 
Strictly  speaking,  the  period  from  1830  to  1850  is  one  of 
varied  characteristics,  but  taken  in  the  light  of  the  solution  of 
the  problem  of  the  prairies,  it  is  one  of  beginnings  only.  The 
pioneer  as  yet  did  not  understand  the  wide,  treeless  areas  around 
him ;  he  lacked  confidence  in  his  ability  to  cope  with  the  difficul- 
ties they  offered  and  he  lacked  the  power  to  overcome  these 
obstacles,  single-handed.  Steam  was  again  to  be  the  key  to  the 
situation  and  during  the  following  decade  when  the  railroads 
spanned  the  state  south  and  west  from  Chicago  the  line  of  com- 
munication with  the  East  'was  completed.  The  market  was 
brought  closer  to  the  consumer  and  to  the  producer,  the  prob- 
lem of  obtaining  lumber  and  merchandise  at  reasonable  prices 
was  solved  and  most  important  of  all,  when  the  prairie  farmer 
was  finally  able  to  see  railroad  trains  cross  the  state  day  after 
day,  he  felt  that  no  longer  was  he  shut  off  from  the  rest  of  man- 
kind when  at  last  he  swung  clear  of  the  timber  and  built  his 
•cabin  on  the  open  prairie. 


[288] 


POOLEY SETTLEMENT    OF    ILLINOIS,    1830-50  575 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 


Owing  to  the  nature  of  the  subject  matter  in  this  monograph 
the  material  used  is  'widely  scattered.  There  are  no  works  deal- 
ing exclusively  with  the  settlement  of  the  state  and  one  is, 
therefore,  compelled  to  search  the  state,  county  and  city  histories 
for  the  desired  information. 

Information  concerning  the  social  and  economic  conditions 
influencing  the  movement  of  population  towards  the  "West  must 
be  sought  in  the  local  histories  and  newspapers  of  the  eastern 
states.  Some  of  the  government  reports  contain  considerable 
valuable  material  on  these  points.  Estimates  of  the  cost  of 
transportation  are  accessible  in  the  numerous  emigrants'  guides 
and  gazetteers  of  the  period ;  routes  of  travel  are  also  designated 
but  much  information  can  be  obtained  on  this  point  by  con- 
sulting the  biographies  of  the  early  pioneers.  The  newspapers 
tell  much  of  the  volume  of  immigration. 

For  the  struggles  of  the  pioneers  with  the  prairies,  local  his- 
tories, autobiographies  and  reminiscences  of  the  early  pioneers 
are  valuable,  as  are  periodicals  such  as  the  Prairie  Farmer 
which  contains  much  information  concerning  the  cultivation  of 
the  prairies.  In  the  writings  of  the  many  travelers  who  passed 
through  the  West  in  the  years  preceding  1850,  information  can 
be  had  concerning  pioneer  society.  However,  it  is  well  to  use 
these  accounts  with  caution  since  many  of  the  writers  were  not 
friendly.  J.  B.  McMaster's  History  of  the  People  of  the  United 
States,  5,  chap,  xlviii  shows  the  feeling  entertained  by  English 
travelers  towards  the  people  and  institutions  of  the  United 
States.  In  the  proceedings,  publications  and  collections  of 
learned  societies  are  often  found  articles  of  interest  treating  of 
pioneer  days. 


19  [ 289  ] 


576  BULLETIN    OF    THE    UNIVERSITY    OF   WISCONSIN 


I.     GENERAL.  AUTHORITIES 

(1)  ILLINOIS: 

Ittin&is  in  1837    (1837); 

Illinois  Blue  Book.   (1900) ; 

Historical  Encyclopaedia  of  Illinois.   (1900) ; 

Breese,  S.,  Early  History  of  Illinois    (1884); 

Brown,  EL,  History  of  Illinois    (1844) ; 

Brown,  W.  H.,  An  Historical  Sketch  of  the  Early  Move* 
ment  in  Illinois  for  the  Legalization  of  Slavery,  in 
Fergus  Historical  Series,  4 ; 

Carpenter,  W.  H.,  and  Arthur,  T.  S.,  History  of  Illinois 
(1857)  ; 

Davidson,  A.,  and  Stuve,  B.,  A  Complete  History  of  Illi- 
nois from  1673  to  1873  (1874)  ; 

Edwards,  N.  W.,  History  of  Illinois  and  Life  and  Times 
of  Ninian  Edwards  (1870) ; 

Ford,  T.,  History  of '  Illinois    (1854); 

Flower,  G.,  History  of  the  English  Settlement  in  Ed- 
wards County,  Illinois  (Chicago  1882) ; 

Gerhard,  F.,  Illinois  As  It  Is    (1857) ; 

Goode,  J.  P.,  The  Geography  of  Illinois.    Maps; 

Harris,  N.  D.,  History  of  Negro  Servitude  in  Illinois 
1719  to  1864.  (1904) ; 

James,  E.  J.,  Territorial  Records  of  Illinois,  in  Illinois 
State  Historical  Society  Publications  (1901) ; 

McCormick,  H.,  A  Topical  Guide  to  the  Study  of  the 
History  of  Illinois.  (Normal  111.  1906) ; 

Moses,  J.,  History  of  Illinois  (2  vols.  1889-1892) ; 

Parker,  J.  M.,  The  growth  of  the  State  of  Illinois  and  the 
City  of  Chicago  (1872) ; 

Patterson,  E.  W.,  Early  Society  in  Southern  Illinois  in 
Fergus  Historical  Series,  2 ; 

-Reynolds,  J.,  Illinois:  My  Own  Times  (1854,  1855  also 
1879) ; 

[290] 


POOLEY SETTLEMENT    OF    ILLINOIS,    1830~50  577 

Shaw,    A.,  Local  Government  in  Illinois  in  Johns  Hop- 
kins  University   Studies,   1. 
(2)  GENERAL,  WORKS: 

Panics  and  Commercial  Revulsions  in  the  United  States 
(1857) ; 

Blanchard,  R.,  The  Northwest  and  Chicago  (2  vols,  Chi- 
cago, 1898-1900) ; 

Bourne,  E.  G.,  Distribution  of  the  Surplus  (1885) ; 

Dewey,  D.  R.,  Financial  History  of  the  United  States 
(1903) ; 

Gould,  E.  W.,  Fifty  Tears  on  the  Mississippi   (1889) ; 

Haymond,  W.  S.,  Indiana  (1879) ; 

Hulburt,  A.  B.,  Historic  Highways  of  America  (16  vols. 
1902-1905)  9,  Waterways  of  Expansion; 

McCulloch,  H.,  Men  and  Measures  of   Half   a   Century 
(1888) ; 

McMaster,  J.  B.,  A  History  of  the  People  of  the  United 
States  5,   6.     (7  vols.  1883-1900) ; 

Seott,  W.  A.,  Repudiation  of  State  Debts  (1893) ; 

Stevens,  F.  E.,  The  Black  Hawk  War  (1903) ; 

Strong,  M.  N.,  History  of -the  Territory  of  Wisconsin 
from  1836-1848     (1885); 

Taussig,  F.  W.,  Tariff  History  of  the  United  States  (re- 
vised edition  1898)  ; 

Von  Hoist,  H.,  The  Constitutional  and  Political  History 
of  the  United  States,  2,  3.     (8  vols.  1876-1892) ; 

Walker,  C.  B.,  The  Mississippi  Valley    (1880); 

Wilson,  W.,  Division  and  Reunion,  1829-1889    (1901). 


II.    PUBLIC   DOCUMENTS,   STATE   REPORTS,   ETC. 

Reports  of  the  Superintendent  of  the  Federal  Census,  especially 

for  1830,  1840  and  1850; 
Abstract  of  the  Seventh  Census    (1850) ; 
Compendium  of  the  Seventh  Census  (1850) ; 
Eighth  Census   (1860)   Agriculture; 

[291] 


578  BULLETIN    OF    THE    UNIVERSITY    OF    WISCONSIN 

Twelfth  Census  (1900)  Statistical  Atlas; 

Congressional  Debates  (1825-37) ; 

The  Congressional  Globe  (1833-1873) ; 

Senate  Documents  (1817-1849)  ; 

Senate  Miscellaneous  Documents  (1847-) ; 

Executive  Documents  (1830-1847) ; 

House  Executive  Documents  (1847-) ; 

House  Miscellaneous  Documents    (1847-) ; 

House  Reports  of  Committees  (1819-) ; 

Reports  of  the  Commissioner  of  Education; 

Eighteenth  Annual  Report  of  the  American  Bureau  of  Ethnol- 
ogy (1896-97) ; 

Seventh  Report  of  the  Ohio  State  Board  of  Agriculture  (1852) ; 

Report  of  the  Geological  Survey  of  Ohio,  5;  Economic  Geology 
(1884) ; 

Report  of  the  Illinois  and  Michigan  Canal  Commissioners 
(1884) ; 

Pillsbury,  W.  L.,  Early  Education  in  Illinois  in  Sixteenth  Bien- 
nial Report  of  the  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction  of 
the  State  of  Illinois-  (1886) ; 

Willard,  S.,  Brief  History  of  Early  Education  in  Illinois  in 
the  Fifteenth  Annual  Report  of  the  Superintendent  of  Pub- 
lic Instruction  in  the  State  of  Illinois  (1884) ; 

Memorial  of  the  Citizens  of  Cincinnati  to  the  Congress  of  the 
United  States  Relative  to  the  Navigation  of  the  Ohio  and 
the  Mississippi  Rivers  (1844) ; 

Constitution  of  the  South  Carolina  Institute,  for  the  Promotion 
of  Art,  Mechanical  Ingenuity  and  Industry  (1849). 

III.    PUBLICATIONS  OF  HISTORICAL  SOCIETIES 

Publications  of  the  Illinois  State  Historical  Society  (1899- 
1905). 

Annual  Proceedings  of  the  Illinois  Association  of  Sons  of  Ver- 
mont (10  vols.  1877-1776)  ; 

Evanston  Historical  Society  Publications  (1902)  ; 

Early  Campmeetings  in  the  McLean  County  (III.)  Historical 
Society  Transactions,  2,  (1903) ; 

[292] 


POOLEY SETTLEMENT    OF    ILLINOIS,    1830-50  579 

Armstrong,  P.  A.,  Historical  Oration  delivered  before  the  Old 
Settlers  Association  of  Grundy  County,  Illinois,  July  Jf., 
1876  at  Morris,  Illinois  (1876); 

Boss,  H.  R.,  Early  Newspapers  in  Illinois  in  Franklin  So- 
ciety Publications,  2,  (1870) ; 

Cheyney,  E.  P.,  The  Anti-Rent  Agitation  in  the  State  of  New 
York  1839-1846  in  the  University  of  Pennsylvania  Publi- 
cations (1887)  ; 

Goodwin,  H.  M.,  A  Commemorative  Discourse  delivered  in  the 
First  Congregational  Church,  Rockford,  August  H,  1870 
(1870) ; 

Gratiot,  H.,  A  Pioneer  of  Wisconsin  in  Wis.  Hist.  Society  Col- 
lections, 10; 

Haines,  J.,  Social  Life  and  Scenes  in  the  Early  Settlement  of 
Central  Illinois  in  Transaction  of  the  Illinois  State  lifter- 
ical  Society  (1905) ; 

Kingston,  J.  T.,  Early  Western  Days  in  Wis.  Hist.  Society  Col- 
lections, 7 ; 

Kofoid,  Carrie  P.,  Puritan  Influence  in  the  Formative  Years  of 
Illinois  History  in  Transactions  of  the  Illinois  State  His- 
torical Society  (1905) ; 

Murray,  D.,  The  Anti-Rent  Episode  in  the  State  of  New  York 
in  Am.  Hist.  Association  Reports,  1,  (1896) ; 

Parkinson,  D.  M.,  Pioneer  Life  in  Wisconsin  in  Wis.  Hist.  So- 
ciety Collections, '  2 ; 

Reizenstein,  M.,  The  Baltimore  and  Ohio  Railroad  in  John  Hop- 
kins University  Studies,  15; 

Rodolf,  T.,  Pioneering  in  the  Wisconsin  Lead  Region  in  Wis. 
Hist.  Society  Collections,  15; 

Salisbury,  G.  H.,  The  Speculative  Craze  of  '36  in  the  Buffalo 
Historical  Society  Publications,  4,  (1896) ; 

Sanford,  A.  H.,  State  Sovereignty  in  Wisconsin  in  the  Am.  Hist. 
Association  Reports  (1891) ; 

Tenney,  H.  A.,  Early  Times  in  Wisconsin  in  Wis.  Hist.  Society 
Collections,  1 ; 

Thwaites,  R.  G.,  Story  of  the  Black  Hawk  War,  in  ibid.,  12 ; 

Notes  on  Early  Leadmining  in  the  Fever  (or  Galena}  River 
Region,  in  ibid.,  13; 

[293] 


580  BULLETIN    OF    THE    UNIVERSITY    OF    WISCONSIN 

Tipton,  T.  F.,  Sports  and  Pastimes  of  the  Pioneers  in  McLean 
County  Historical  Society  Transactions,  1,  (1899) ; 

Walker,  Capt.  A.,  Early  Days  on  the  Lakes  in  the  Buffalo  His- 
torical Society  Publications,  5,  (1902) ; 

Ward,  G.  W.,  The  Early  Development  of  the  Chesapeake  and 
Ohio  Canal  Project  in  the  Johns  Hopkins  University  Stud- 
ies, 17; 

Winden,  J.,  Influence  of  the  Erie  Canal  (MSS.  Thesis,  Univer- 
sity of  Wisconsin  1900). 


IV.    REMINISCENCES,  BIOGRAPHIES,  PAPERS,  ETC. 

Calhoun  Papers  in  American  Hist.  -Association  Reports,  2, 
(1899) ; 

Stories  of  the  Pioneer  Mothers  of  Illinois  (MSS.  in  the  Illinois 
Historical  Library) ; 

Coffin,  Levi,  Reminiscences    (1880) ; 

Palmer,  John  M.,  Personal  Recollections    (1901) ; 

Collyer,  R.,  The  Life  of  A.  H.  Conant  (1868) ; 

Bonner,  T.  D.,  Life  and  Adventures  of  Beckwourth  (1858) ; 

Chetlain,  A.  L.,  Recollections  of  Seventy  Years  (1899) ; 

Ford,  W.  C.,  [Ed]  Papers  of  James  Monroe  (1904) ; 

Hamilton,  H.  E.,  [Ed]  Incidents  and  Events  in  the  Life  of  Gur- 
don  Saltonstall  Hubbard  (1888) ; 

Howells,  W.  C.,  Recollections  of  Life  in  Ohio  from  1813  to 
1840  (1895)  ; 

McLaughlin,  A.  C.,  Lewis  Cass  (Boston,  1900) ; 

Reid,  H.,  Biographical  Sketch  of  Enoch  Long,  an  Illinois  Pio- 
neer (1884) ; 

Rombauer,  R.  E.,  Life  of  the  Hon.  Gustavus  Koerner  in  Trans- 
actions of  the  Illinois  State  Historical  Society  (1904) ; 

Schurz,  C.,  Henry  Clay  (2  vols.,  Boston,  1900) ; 

Shaw,  Col.  J.,  Personal  Narrative  in  Wis.  Hist.  Society  Collec- 
tions, 2 ; 

Shephard,  E.  M.,  Martin  Van  Buren  (Boston,  1900)  ; 

Thwaites,  R.  G.,  Narrative  of  Morgan  L.  Martin  in  Wis.  Hist. 
Society  Collections,  2 ; 

[294] 


POOLEY SETTLEMENT    OF    ILLINOIS,    1830-50  581 

Tillson,  C.  H.,  Reminiscences  of  Early  Life  in  Illinois,  1819  to 

1827  (1870) ; 
Willard,  S.,  Personal  Reminiscences  of  Life  in  Illinois,  1830~ 

1850  in  Transactions  of  %he  Illinois  State  Historical  Society 

(1906.) 

V.     TRAVELS,  GAZETTEERS  AND  EMIGRANTS'  GUIDES 

i 
Those  works  which  have  been  most  useful  in  the  preparations 

of  this  monograph  are  the  following: 

Abdy,  E.  S.,  Journal  of  a  Residence  and  Tour  in  the  United 

States  of  North  America  1833-1834  (London  1835) ; 
Albach,  J.  R.,  Annals  of  the  West  (Cincinnati  1846,  St.  Louis 

1850,  Pittsburg  1857) ; 
The  Americans  as  They  Are  (London  1828) ; 
A  New  Yorker,  A  Winter  in  the  West  (2  vols.  New  York  1835) ; 
Atwater,  C.,  Writings  (Columbus,  0.,  1833) ; 
Barber,  J.  W.,  and  Howe,  H.,  All  the  Western  States  and  Ter- 
ritories  (Cincinnati  1867) ; 
Barclay,  Capt,  An  Agricultural  Tour  in,  the  United  States  and 

Upper  Canada  (Edinburgh  and  London  1842) ; 
Beck,  L.  C.,  A  Gazetteer  of  the  States  of  Illinois  and  Missouri 

(Albany  1823) ; 
Blois,  J.  T.,  Gazetteer  of  the  State  of  Michigan    .     .     .    and  a 

Directory  for  Emigrants  (Detroit  and  New  York  1840) ; 
Bremer,  Fredrika,  The  Homes  of  the  New  World;  Impressions 

of  America  (2  vols.  translated  by  Mary  Howett,  New  York, 

1853) ; 

Brown,  R.  S.,  Western  Gazetteer  (1817) ; 
Buckingham,  J.  S.,  The  Eastern  and  Western  States  of  Amer-J 

ica  (3  vols.  London  1842) ; 
Chevalier,  M.,  Society,  Manners  and  Politics  in  the  United  States 

(Boston  1839) ; 
Collins,  S.  H.,  The  Emigrants'  Guide  to  and  Description  of 

the  United  States  of  America  (London  1830)  ; 
Conkey,  W.,  A  Journey  from  Massachusetts  to  Illinois  in  1830 

in  Transactions   of   the   Illinois   State   Historical   Society 

(1906) ; 

[  295  j 


582  BULLETIN    OF    THE    UNIVERSITY    OF   WISCONSIN 

Curtiss,  D.  S.,  Western  Portraiture  and  Emigrants'  Guide  (New 
York,  1852) ; 

Dana,  E.,  Geographical  Sketches  on  the  Western  Country  (Cin- 
cinnati 1819) ; 

Davis,  W.  W.,  A  Trip  From  Pennsylvania  to  Illinois  in  1851 
in  Transactions  of  the  Illinois  State  Historical  Society 
(1904) ; 

De  Bow,  J.  D.,  The  Industrial  Resources  of  the  United  States 

(3  vols.  New  York  1854) ; 

Faux,  W.,  Memorable  Days  in  America  (London  1823) ; 
Farnham,  Eliza  W.,  Life  in  Prairie  Land  (New  York  1846) ; 
Ferrall,  S.  A.,  A  Ramble  of  6000  Miles  Through  the  United 

States  of  America  (London  1832) ; 

Ferguson,  W.,  America  by  Eiver  and  Kail  (London  1856) ; 
Flint,  T.,  History  and  Geography  of  the  Mississippi  Valley  (2 

vols.,  edition  1832) ; 

Letters  from  America  (Thwaites  Edition) ; 
Fordham,  E.  P.,  Personal  Narrative   (edited  by  F.  A.   Ogg) ; 
Godley,  J.  JR.,  Letters  from  America  (2  vols.  London  1844) ; 

Guide  to  the    Illinois    Central   Railroad   Lands  (Chicago 

1861) ; 

Grund,  F.  J.,  The  Americans  in  Their  Moral,  Social  and  Polit- 
ical Relations    (2  vols.   London   1837) ; 
Hall,  J.,  Letters  from  the  West   (Cincinnati  1828) ; 

Legends  of  the  West  (Cincinnati  1833) ; 

Statistics  of  the  West  :( Cincinnati  1836) ; 

Notes  on  the  Western  Stages  (Cincinnati  1838) ; 
Hall,  E.  H.,  The  Northern  Counties,  Gazetteers  and  Directory 

for  1855-1856;  A  Perfect  and  Complete  Guide  to  Northern 

Illinois    (Chicago  1855) ; 
Harding,    B.,  Tours    Through    the    Western    Country,    1818- 

1819   (New  London  1819) ; 
Hawes,  G.  W.,  Illinois  State  Gazetteer  and  Business  Directory 

for  1858-1859    (Chicago   1859); 

Jones,  A.  D.,  Illinois  and  the  West  (Boston  and  Phila.  1838)'; 
Latrobe,  C.  J.,  The  Rambler  in  North  America  (2  vols.  New 

York  1835)  ; 

/   Lewis  Rev.  G.,  Impressions  of  America  (Edinburgh  1845) ; 
^Lloyd-Jones,  C.,  Immigration  Routes  to  Wisconsin  (MSS.  Thesis 

University   of  "Wisconsin   1902) ; 

[296] 


POOLEY SETTLEMENT    OF    ILLINOIS,    1830-50  583 

MaeGregor,  J.,  Commercial  Statistics  of  America  (London) ; 

Marshall,  J.  T.,  Farmer's  and  Emigrant's  Handbook  (Ne'w 
York  1845) ; 

Martineau,  Harriett,  Society  in  America,  1834-1836  (3  vols. 
London  1837); 

Meeker,  N.  C.,  Life  in  the  West  (New  York  1868) ; 

Mitchell,  S.  A.,  Sketches  of  Illinois  (Phila.  1838) ; 

Murray,  C.  A.,  Travels  in  North  America  (2  vols.  London  1854) ; 

Norris  and  Gardiner,  Illinois  Annual  Register  and  Western 
Business  Directory  for  1847  (Chicago  1847) ; 

Patten,  E.,  A  Glimpse  at  the  United  States  and  the  Northern 
States  of  America  (London  1853) ; 

Peck,  J.  M.,  Guide  for  Emigrants   (1831) ; 

Peck,  Rev.  G.,  Traveler's  Directory  for  Illinois  in  the  Metho- 
dist Quarterly  Review,  July,  1843; 

^Peyton,  J.  L.,  A  Statistical  View  of  the  State  of  Illinois  (Chi- 
cago 1855) ; 

Rantoul,  R.,  Letter  to  Robert  Schuyler  .  .  .  on  the  Value 
of  the  Public  Lands  of  Illinois  (Boston  1851) ; 

Regan,  J.,  The  Emigrant's  Guide  to  the  Western  States  of 
America  (Edinburgh  1852) ; 

Reynolds,  J.,  Sketches  of  the  Country  on  the  Northern  Route 
from  Belleville,  Illinois  to  the  City  of  New  York  (Belle- 
ville 1854); 

Salsbacher,  Dr.  J.,  Heine  Reise  nach  der  Vereinigien  Staa-ten 
(Vienna  1845) ; 

Scott,  Rev.  J.  L.,  A  Journal  of  a  Missionary  Tour  (Providence, 
1843) ; 

Shultz,  C.,  Travels  on  an  Inland  Voyage  (2  vols.  New  York 
1810) ; 

Smith,  J.  C.,  The  Western  Tourist  and  Emigrants'  Guide  (New 
York  1839)  ; 

Stuart,  J.,  Three  Tears  in  North  America  (2  vols.  New  York 
1833); 

Steele,  Mrs.,  A  Summer  Journey  in  the  West  (New  York  1841) ; 

Tanner,  H.  S.,  View  of  the  Valley  of  the  Mississippi  (1834) ; 

Thomason,  Rev.  D.  R.,  Hints  to  Emigrants  (London  1849) ; 

Thwaites,  R.  G.  [Ed.],  Early  Western  Travels  (1748-1846); 

[297] 


584  BULLETIN    OF    THE    UNIVERSITY    OF    WISCONSIN 

Van  Zandt,  N.  B.,  A  Full  Description  ...  of  the  Mil W dry 
Lands  between  the  Mississippi  and  Illinois  Rivers  (Wash- 
ington, 1818)  ; 

View  of  the  Valley  of  the  Mississippi  or  the  Emigrants'  and 
Travellers?'  Guide  to  the  West  (Phila.  1834); 

Warden,  D.  B.,  Statistical,  Political  and  Historical  Account  of 
the  United  States  of  North  America  (3  vols.  Edinburgh, 
1819) ; 

Whittlesey,  C.,  Recollections  of  a  Tour  through  Wisconsin  in 
1832  in  Wis.  Hist.  Society  Collections,  1 ; 

Wyse,  F.,  America;  Its  Realities  and  Resources  (3  vols.  London, 
1846). 

VI.    PERIODICALS 

Considerable  information  has  been  gathered  from  periodicals 
both  American  and  European,  but  the  material  is  scattered. 
The  articles  in  the  European  magazines  deal  chiefly  with  eco- 
nomic and  social  conditions  and  are  noted  in  that  part  of  the 
bibliography  dealing  with  immigration  and  foreigners  in'  Ill- 
inois. 

Many  newspapers  of  value  for  material  on  Illinois  are  found 
in  the  files  in  the  Chicago  Historical  Society  and  those  in  the 
Merchants  Library  at  St.  Louis. 

For  the  files  in  the  State  Historical  Library  of  Wisconsin,  see 
the  Annotated  Cdtalogue  of  Newspaper  Files  (1899) ; 

The  following  publications  were  used  constantly: 
DeBow's  Commercial  Review  of  the  South  and  West   (1846- 

1860). 
Hazard,   S.,    [Ed.]    United  States   Commercial  and  Statistical 

Register  (1839—). 
Hunt's  Merchants'  Magazine  and  Commercial  Review    (1839- 

1870). 

Nties'  Weekly  Register  (1811-1849). 
Illinois  Monthly  Magazine   (1831-1832). 
The  Prairie  Farmer  (1840 — ). 
The  Western  Monthly  Magazine   (1833-1837). 

Others  which  have  been  used  to  a  less  degree  are : 

[298] 


POOLEY SETTLEMENT    OF    ILLINOIS,    1830-50  585 

Hazard,  S.,   [Ed.]   Register  of  Pennsylvania  (1828-1836). 

Homans,  J.   S.,    [Ed.]    The  Banker's  Magazine  and  State  Fi- 
nancial Register,  12. 

Land  We  Love,  5. 

Magazine  of  Western  History  (1884r-1891). 

Putnam's  Monthly  Magazine  of  American  Literature,  Science 
and  Art,  4. 

The  American  Railroad  Journal  and  General  Advertiser  (1845- 
1861). 

The  Atlantic  Monthly,  26. 

The  Christian  Examiner,  51,  82. 

The  Family  Magazine,  6. 

The  Nation,  8. 

The  National  Calendar  (1830). 

The  New  Englander,  52. 

Yale  Review,  1. 

Scattered  material  has  been  found  in  the  following  Illinois 

newspapers : 

Chicago  American  (1835-1842). 

Chicago  Democrat  (1833-1861). 

Chicago  Express  (1843). 

Chicago  Evening  Post  (for  Sept.  5,  1896). 

Chicago  Inter  Ocean  (for  Dec.  14,  1904). 

Chicago  Journal  (1844-1853). 

Chicago  Times   (for  April  30,  1846). 

Chicago  Tribune   (1847). 

Gem  of  the  Prairies  (1847-1851). 

Illinois  Advocate  and  State  Register  (1833-1835). 

Minef's  Journal  (1826). 

Miner's  Free  Press  (1840). 

Nauvoo  Neighbor  (1843-1845). 

Nauvoo  New  Citizen  (for  Feb.  24,  1847). 

Nauvoo  Times  and  Seasons  (for  Sept.  15,  1841). 

Northwestern  Gazette  and  Galena  Advertiser   (1834 ). 

Peoria  Register  and  Northwestern  Gazetteer  (1837-1839). 

Rockford  Forum  (1847). 

Rock  River  Gazette  (for  Oct.  14,  1842). 

Sangamo  Journal   (1836-1838). 

[299] 


586  BULLETIN    OF    THE    UNIVERSITY    OF   WISCONSIN 

Semi-Weekly  Galena  Jeffersonian    (1845-1855). 

The    Western  Pioneer  and  Baptist   Standard   Bearer    (1830- 

1835). 

Warsaw  Signal  (for  Oct.  13,  1846). 
Western  Citizen   (1842-53). 
Western  Herald  (1846-1847). 

Newspapers  published  outside  of  Illinois: 
Albany  Argus  (1813-1856). 
Albany  Cultivator  (1834). 
American  Agriculturist  (1842). 
Boston  Patriot  (1809-1831). 
Boston  Weekly  Messenger   (1811). 
Buffalo  Commercial  Advertiser  (1811  17). 
Cincinnati  Chronicle   (1836-1850). 

Cincinnati  Gazette  (1815 ). 

Delaware  (N.  T.)  Courier  (for  Jan.  29,  Feb.  6,  1864). 

Delaware   (N.  Y.)   Gazette   (for  Sept.,  1841). 

Genesee  Farmer  (1831-1840). 

Greene  County  (0.)  Torchlight  (1838). 

Louisville  Weekly  Messenger  (1836-1838). 

Madison  Express   (1839-1848). 

New  York  Era  (for  Sept.  5,  1837). 

New  York  Weekly  Herald  (1841). 

New  York  World  (1860). 

The  New  Yorker  (1836-1841). 

The  Ohio  Statesman  (1837). 

Wheeling  Gazette  (for  Sept.  1,  1832). 

Wisconsin  Enquirer  (1838-1842). 

Wiskonsan  Enquirer  (1842). 

VII.    LOCAL  HISTORIES 

Much  of  the  material  upon  the  specific  settlements  of  the  state 
has  been  obtained  from  county  histories.  "When  there  are  two  or 
more  of  the  same  county,  both  are  noted.  They  differ  in  re- 
liability and  must  be  used  with  caution.  When  the  histories 
of  two  or  more  counties  are  in  one  volume,  they  are  grouped 
in  the  summary  under  one  title.  The  following  works  have 
been  consulted  in  addition  to  county  histories  of  other  states ; 

[300] 


TOOLEY SETTLEMENT    OF    ILLINOIS,    1830-50  587 

Adams  County,  (1879). 

Alexander,  Union  and  Pulaski  Counties,   (1883). 

Bond  and  Montgomery  Counties,  (1882). 

Boone  County,  (1877). 

Bureau  County,  Voters  and  Tax  payers,  (1877). 

Bradsby,  Henry  C.,  History  of  Bureau  County,  (1885). 

Matson,  Nehemiah,  Reminiscences  of  Bureau  County,  (1872). 

Carroll  County,  (1878). 

Cass  County,  (1882). 

Champaign  County,  (1878). 

Lothrop,  J.  S.,  Champaign  County  Directory,  (1871). 

Coles  County,   (1879). 

Andreas,  A.  T.,  Cook  County,   (1884). 

Crawford  and  Clark  Counties,   (1883). 

Cumberland,  Jasper  and  Richland  Counties,  (1884). 

Boies,  Henry  L.,  De  Kalb  County,  (1868). 

De  Kalb  County,  Voters  and  Tax  payers,  (1876). 

De  Witt  County,  (1882). 

Blanchard,  Rufus,  Du  Page  County,  (1882). 

Richmond,  C.  W.  and  Valletta,  H.  F.,  Du  Page  County,  (1857). 

Edgar  County,  (1879). 

Effingham  County,  (1883). 

Fayette  County,  (1878). 

Fulton  County,  (1879). 

Gallatin,  Saline,  Hamilton,  Franklin  and  Williamson  Counties, 

(1887). 

Greene  County,  (1879). 
Grundy  County,  (1882). 
Gregg.  Tfiomas,  Hancock  County,  (1880). 
Henry  County,  Tax  Payers  and  Voters,  (1877). 
Beckwith,  Hiram  W.,  Iroquois  County,  (1880). 
Jefferson  County,    (1883). 
Jo  Daviess  County,  (1878). 
Kane  County,   (1878). 
Hicks,  E.  W.,  Kendall  County,  (1877). 
Knox  County,  (1878). 
Haines,  Elijah  "W.,  Lake  County,  (1852). 

[301] 


588  BULLETIN    OF    THE    UNIVERSITY    OF   WISCONSIN 

Lake  County,  (1877). 

La  Salle  County,  (1886). 

La  Salle  County,  Past  and  Present,  (1877). 

Baldwin,  Elmer.,  La  Salle  County,  (1877). 

Lee  County,  (1881). 

Livingston  County,   (1878). 

Macon  County,  (1880). 

Madison  County,  (1882). 

Marion  and  Clinton  Counties,  (1881). 

Me  Donough  County,  (1878  and  1885). 

Me  Henry  County,  (1886). 

Me  Lean  County,  (1879). 

Duis,  Dr.  E.,  Good  old  Times  in  Me  Lean  County,  (1874). 

Menard  and  Mason  Counties,  (1879). 

Mercer  County,  (1882). 

Ogle  County,  (1878). 

Ogle  County,  Sketches,  (1859). 

Peoria  County,  (1880). 

Pike  County,  (1880). 

Ford,  Henry  A.,  Putnam  and  Marshall  Counties  (1860). 

Rock  Island  County,  (1877). 

Henderson,  John  G.,  Early  History  of  the  Sangamon  Country, 

(1873). 

Schuyler  and  Brown  Counties,  (1882). 
Shelby  and  Moultrie  Counties,  (1881). 
8t.  Clair  County,   (1881). 
Stephenson  County,  (1880). 

Johnston,  "W.  J.,  Sketches  of  Stephenson  County,  (1854). 
Beekwith,  Hirarn  W.,  Vermilion  County,  (1879). 
Coffeen,  Henry  A.,  Vermilion  County,  (1871). 
Warren  County,  (1877). 
Whiteside  County,  (1877). 
Witt  County,  (1878). 
Winnebago  County,  (1877). 
Woodford  County,  (1878). 


[302] 


POOLEY SETTLEMENT    OF    ILLINOIS,    1830-50  589 


VIII.    BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORDS 

In  connection  with  the  county  histories  enumerated,  the  fol- 
lowing Biographical  Records  were  of  value  in  determining  the 

nativities  of  the  early  settlers: 

Bureau,  Marshall  and  Putnam  Counties,  (Clarke,  Chicago, 
1896). 

De  Kalb  County,  (Clarke,  1898). 

De  Witt  County,   (€larke,  1901). 

Hancock,  McDonough  and  Henderson  Counties,   (1894). 

Jo  Daviess  and  Carroll  Counties,  (Chapman  Bros.,  Chicago, 
1889). 

Kane  County,  (Beers,  Leggett  &  Co.,  Chicago,  1888). 

Kankakee  County,  (1893). 

Kendall  County,  (George  Fisher  &  Co.,  Chicago,  1876). 

Livingston  and  Woodford  Counties,  (1900). 

McLean  County,  (Clarke,  1899). 

Ogle  County,  (Clarke,  1899). 

Rock  Island  County,  (1885). 

Whiteside  County,  (Chapman  Bros.,  1885) ;  also  one  by  Clarke, 
1900. 

Winnebago  and  Boone  Counties,  (Chicago  Biographical  Pub- 
lishing Co.,  1892). 

Woodford  County,  (Chapman  Bros.,  1889). 

IX.    HISTORIES  OF  CHICAGO 

A  great  deal  has  been  written  upon  Chicago  and  its  wonder- 
ful growth.  Of  the  mass  of  material,  the  following  works  were 
found  most  useful : 

Andreas,  A.  T.,  History  of  Chicago,  (3  Vols.  1885). 
Balestier,  Joseph  N.,   Annals  of  Chicago  in  Fergus  Historical 

Series,  1. 
Binckley,  J.  M.,  The  Chicago  of  the  Thinker,  in  the  Lakeside, 

Oct.,  1873. 

Bross,  W.,  History  of  Chicago,  (1876). 

Colbert,  E.  and  Chamberlin,  E.,  Chicago  and  the  Great  Con- 
flagration, (1872). 

[303] 


590  BULLETIN    OF    THE    UNIVERSITY    OF   WISCONSIN 

Cleaver,  C.,  A  History  of  Chicago  from  1833  to  1892,  (1892). 

Flinn,  J.  J.,  and  Wilkie,  J.  E.,  A  History  of  the  Chicago  Police, 
(1887). 

Gale,  E.  0.,  Reminiscences  of  Early  Chicago  and  Vioinity, 
(1902). 

Hayes,  A.  A.,  Jr.,  Metropolis  of  the  Prairies,  in  Harper's  Maga- 
zine, Oct.,  1880. 

Hulbert,  H.  H.,  Chicago  Antiquities,  (1881).. 

Kirkland,  J.,  Story  of  Chicago,  (2  vote.  1892-1894). 

Mason,  E.  G.,  Early  Chicago  and  Illinois,  (1890). 

Moses,  J.  and  Kirkland,  J.,  History  of  Chicago,  (2  vol.  1895). 

Sheahan,  J.  W.,  and  Upton,  G.  P.,  The  Great  Conflagration, 
(1872). 

Van  Dorn,  L.,  A  View  of  Chicago  in  1848  in  Magazine  of  West- 
ern History,  May,  1889. 

Wentworth,  J.,  Reminiscences  of  Early  Chicago,  in  Fergus 
Historical  Series,  1. 

By  Gone  Days  and  Early  Chicago,  (A  collection  of  newspaper 
articles  on  the  early  history  of  Chicago.  Chicago  Histori- 
cal Society  Library). 

General  Directory  and  Business  Advertiser  of  the  City  of  Chi- 
cago, (1844). 

Historical  and  Commercial  Statistics  of  Chicago  in  Western 
Journal  and  Civilian,  April,  1854. 

Industrial  Chicago,   (6  vols.,  1894). 

Statistical  and  Historical  View  of  Chicago,  (1869). 
Other  local  histories  are: 

Asbury,  H.,  Reminiscences  of  Quincy?  (1882). 

Ballance,  C.,  The  History  of  Peoria,  (1870). 

Bascom,  Rev.  F.,  An  Historical  Discourse:  Commemorative  of 
the  Settlement  of  Galesburg,  (Galesburg,  1866). 

Carr,  E.  L,  The  History  of  Rockton,  1820  to  1893,  (1898). 

Church,  C.  A.,  History  of  Rockford,  (1900). 

Davidson,  J.  N.,  Some  Distinctive  Characteristics  of  the  History 
of  our  Lead  Region  in  Forty  Sixth  Annual  Proceedings  of 
State  Historical  Society  of  Wisconsin,  (1899). 

Drown,  S.  D.,  Record  and  Historical  View  of  Peoria,  (1850). 

Eads,  A.  B.,  Illustrated  History  of  Rockford,  (1884). 

[304] 


POOLEY SETTLEMENT    OF    ILLINOIS,    1830-50  591 

Flagler,  D.  \V.,  History  of  the  Rock  Island  Arsenal,  (1877). 
Meeker,  M.,  Early  History  of  the  Lead  Region  of  Wisconsin  in 

Wis.  Hist.  Soc.  Collections,  6. 
Redmond,  P.  H.,  History  of  Quincy,  (1869). 
Roy,  J.  E.,  Memorial  Address  and  Proceedings  at  the  Thirtieth 

Anniversary  of  the  Settlement  of  Geneseo,  (Chicago,  1867). 
Sellon,  C.  J.,  History  of  Galesburg,  (1857). 
Washburne,  E.  B.,  The  Lead  Region  and  Lead  Trade  of  the 

Upper  Mississippi  in  Hunt's  Merchant's  Magazine,  March 

1848.. 
Woodruff,    G.   H.,  Forty  Years  Ago — A   Contribution   to   the 

Early  History  of  Joliet  and   Witt   County,    (1874). 
History  of  Dixon  and  Lee  County,  (1870). 
History  of  the  City  of  Elgin,  (Chicago  Republican,  March  16, 

1867). 
Galena  and  Its  Lead  Mines  in  Harper's  Magazine,  May,  1866. 

X.    FOREIGNERS  IN  ILLINOIS 

Information  concerning  the  conditions  in  Europe  which  lead 

to  emigration  can  be  found  in  the  periodicals  of  the  time.     The 

location  of  this  population  in  Illinois  is  easiest  found  in  the 

local  histories  and  in  the  secondary  works  on  foreigners  in  the 

United   States.    The    following    works    have   been   useful   in 

gathering  material: 

Deutsch-Amerikanische  Geschichsbldtter  (Chicago  1900 — ). 

Schriften  des  Vereins  fur  Social  Politik,  52. 

European  Emigration  to  the  United  States  in  Edinburgh  Re- 
view, July,  1854. 

Foreign  Immigration,  Its  Natural  and  Extraordinary  Causes 
in  American  Whig  Review,  Nov.,  Dec.,  1847;  April  ,1848; 

Immigration  into  the  United  States  in  DeBow's  Review,  March, 
1848. 

Manufacturing  Emigration  in  Litt ells'  Living  Age,  Jan.,  1847. 

The  Famine  Lands  in  ibid.,  April,  1847. 

The  Revolutions  of  Europe,  1830-1840  in  the  North  American 
Review,  July,  1848. 

German  Emigration  in  Litt  ell's  Living  Age,  Oct.,  1846. 

20  [  305  ] 


592         BULLETIN  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  WISCONSIN 

German  Emigration  to  America  in  the  North  American  Review, 

July,  1820. 
Our  Poor  Law  Administration  in  the  British  Quarterly  Review, 

April,  1868. 
Present  Conditions  of  Great  Britian  in  the  Edinburgh  Review, 

April,  1851. 
The  Modern  Exodus  in  its  Effects  on  the  British  Isles  in  the 

North  British  Review,  Nov.,  1852. 
/-Ireland  and  Its  Famine  in  the  British  Quarterly  Review,  May, 

1847. 

^reland  in  1834  in  the  Dublin  University  Magazine,  Jan.,  1835. 
^-  The  Irish  in  America  in  the  Metropolitan  Jan.,  1857. 
The  American  Review,  6. 
Blackwood's  Magazine,  64. 
The  Dublin  Review,  1,  15. 
The  Fortnightly  Review,  8. 
The  Harbinger,  2. 
Anderson,  R.  B.,  The  First  Chapter  on  Norwegian  Immigration, 

1821-1840  '(Madison,    1895). 
- — Bagenal,  P.  H.,  The  American  Irish  and  their  Influence  on  Irish 

Politics   (London  1882). 

Becker,  M.  J.,  The  Germans  of  1849  in  America  (1887). 
Bruncken,  E.,  How  Germans  become  Americans  in  Wis.  Hist. 

Society  Proceedings   (1898). 

Burritt,  E.,  Ireland;  in  Litt ell's  Living  Age,  April,  1847. 
Campbell,  C.  B.,  Bourbonnais;  or  the  Early  French  Settlement 

in  Kankakee  County  in  Transactions  of  the  Illinois  State 

Historical  Society     (1906). 

_ —- Ohickering,  J.,  Immigration  into  the  United  States,  (1848). 
~<Condon,  E.  O.,  The  Irish  Race  in  America  (1887). 

Copeland,  L.  A.,   The  Cornish  in  Southwestern  Wisconsin  in 

Wis.  Hist.  Society  Collections,  14. 
Engels,  F.,  The  Condition  of  the  Working  Class  in  England  in 

1844    (Translated   by   Florence   K.    Wischnewetzky,   New 

York,  1887). 

Flom,  G.  T.,  The  Scandinavian  Factor  in  the  American  Popu- 
lation in  Iowa  Journal  of  History  and  Politics,  3. 
/Hale,  E.  E.,  Letters  on  Irish  Emigration  (1852). 

[306] 


POOLEY SETTLEMENT  OF  ILLINOIS,   1830-50  593 

Kapp,  F.,  Immigration  and  the  Commissioners  of  Emigration 
of  the  State  of  New  York  (1870). 

Kopfli,  S.,  and  Eggen,  J.,  Die  Schweizer-Kolonie  Highland  in 
Illinois  in  Deutch-Amerikanische  Geschichtsblatter,  April- 
July,  1905. 

Korner,  G.,  Das  Deutsche  Element  in  den  Vereinigten  Staaten 
von  Nordamerika  1818-1848  (Cincinnati,  1880). 

Lalor,  J.  J.,  The  Germans  in  the  West,  in  the  Atlantic  Monthly 

Oct.,  1873. 
Levi,  Mrs.  K.  E.,  Geographical  Origin  of  German  Immigration  to 

Wisconsin,  in  Wis.  Hist.  Society  Collections,  14. 
Luchsinger,  J.,  The  Planting  of  the  Swiss  Colony  at  New  Glarus, 

Wisconsin  in  Wis.  Hist.  Society  Collections,  12. 

, Maguire,  J.  F.,  The  Irish  in  America  (1868). 

McLaughlin,  A.,  The  Immigrant,  Past  and  Present,  in  the  Pop-     \ 

ular  Science  Monthly,  July,  1904. 
Nelson,  O.  N.,  History  of  Scandinavia  and  Successful  Scandi* 

navians  in  the  United  States  (2  vols.  1893). 
Newbauer,  Ella  F.,  The  Swiss  Settlements  in  Madison  County,     ^ 

Illinois  in  Transactions  of  the  Illinois  State  Historical  So- 
ciety (1906). 
Onahan,  W.  G.,  Irish  Settlements  in  Illinois  in  the  Catholic 

World,  May,  1881. 
Rahr,  L.  F.,  German  Immigration  to  the  United  States  i840- 

1850  (MSS.  Thesis,  University  of  "Wisconsin  1903). 
Shea,  J.  G.,  The  Canadian  Element  in  the  United  States,  in  the 

American   Catholic   Quarterly   Review,   Oct.    1879. 
Smith,  C.  W.,  A  Contribution  towards  a  Bibliography  of  Morris 

Birkbeck  and  the  English  Settlement  in  Edwards  County, 

Illinois  in  Transactions  of  the  Illinois  Historical  Society 

(1905). 

Steinach,  A.,  Schweizer  Kolonien  (N.  Y.  1889). 
Traill,  H.  D.,   [Ed.]  Social  England,  6.     (6  vols.  1897.) 
•  Turner,  F.  J.,  German  Immigration  into  the  United  States  in 

the  Chicago  Recorolr-Herald,  Sept.  4,  1901. 
Young,  E.,  Special  Report  on  Immigration  (1872). 
Young,  E.,  Labor  in  Europe  and  America  (1875). 

[307] 


594  BULLETIN  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  WISCONSIN 


XI.    SOCIAL  SETTLEMENTS 

^  'Amberley,  V.,  The  Latter  Day  Saints  in  the  Fortnightly  Re- 
view, Nov.,  1869. 

Beadle,  J.  H.,  Life  in  Utah. 

Bennett,  J.  C.,  History  of  the  Saints,  (1842). 

Berrian,  W.,  Catalogue  of  Books,  Early  Newspapers  andPamph- 
^  lets  on  Mormonism,  (1898). 

Berry,  O.  F.,  The  Mormon  Settlements  in  Illinois  in  Transac- 
tions of  the  Illinois  State  Historical  Society  (1906). 

Bigelow,  H.,  The  Bishop  Hill  Colony  in  the  Illinois  Historical 
Society  Proceedings  (1902). 

Brisbane,  A.,  Articles  on  Fourierism  in  the  New  York  Tribune 
(1841-1843). 

Caswall,  H.,  The  Prophet  of  the  Nineteenth  Century  (London 
1843). 

(runnison,  J.  W.,  The  Mormons  or  Latter  Day  Saints  in  the 
Valley  of  the  Great  Salt  Lake  (1852). 

Gregg,  T.,  The  Prophet  of  Palmyra  (1890). 

Haven,  Charlotte.  A  Girl's  Letter  from  Nauvoo  in  the  Overland 
Monthly,  16,  17. 

Hillquit,  M.,  History  of  Socialism  in  the  United  States   (1903). 

Hinds,  W.  A.,  American  Communities  (1902). 

Kennedy,  J.  H.,  Early  Days  of  Mormonism,  (1888). 

Mikkelson,  M.  A.,  The  Bishop  Hill  Colony  in  the  Johns  Hop- 
kins University  Studies,  10. 

Miller,  Mrs.  J.  G.,  The  Icarian  Community  of  Nauvoo,  Illinois 
in  Transactions  of  the  Illinois  State  Historical  Society 
(1906). 

Noyes,  J.  H.,  History  of  American  Socialism  (1870). 

Robinson,  Madame  E.  Fleury,  A  Social  Experiment  in  The 
Open  Court,  Aug.  28,  Sept.  11,  1890. 

Shaw,  A.,  Icaria,  (1884). 

Smith,  President  Joseph,  and  Smith,  Apostle  H.  C.,  History  of 
the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ  of  ttie  Latter  Day  Saints,  (4 
vols.  Lamoni,  la.,  1902). 

[308] 


POOLEY — SETTLEMENT  OF  ILLINOIS,  1830-50  595 

Smucker,  S.  M.,  The  Religious,  Social  and  Political  History  of 

the  Mormons  (1858). 

'Stenhouse,  T.  B.  H.,  The  Rocky  Mountain  Saints   (1873). 
Charter  and  By-Laws  of  the  Icarian  Community,  (1857). 
The  Detriments  of  Civilization  and  Benefits  of  Association,  as 

taught   ~by   Charles  Fourier    .     .     .     (1844). 
A  Handbook  of  Reference  to  the  History,  Chronology,  Religion 

and  Country  of  the  Latter  Day  Saints    .    .    .     (1884). 


[309] 


